Mind Games
by LeVide
Summary: Trinity enters the Matrix and fights against Hypno to save Neo; she will realize that fighting isn't the right solution.
1. Unknown threat

**A.N. :** Firstly, I want to thank all my reviewers!

Secondly, I know I'm really annoying, but I have had a lot of free time and I spent it writing and writing (I'm very inspired at the moment). I wanted to edit the first chapter of this story before the school (argh!) Forgive my rough writing, but I can't equal you, my English and American companions!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the Matrix.

* * *

**Mind Games**

**Chapter1: Unknown threat **

_Come on... no, come on... shit!_

The bright lightening piece of green code was slowly fading. Link typed furiously, eyes fixed on it, trying everything he knew to keep it on the screens.

_I'm not giving up, you..._

Unfortunately, his attempts didn't work, the code of the program suddenly disappeared, as if it had never existed. He carefully scanned the area, trying every way to bring him back, but was soon forced to give up. Definitely no code.

Ok, no code... no program. And no program... total failure.

Holding back the by now impelling urge to do a massacre with the computer, Link just punched it furiously, just to relieve his crescent irritation. Unfortunately, the blow was too violent for the taste of the machine, that seemed to take it like an ill-treatment and sparkled dangerously, threatening to stall. Which it did just a few seconds later, leaving a stunned and angry operator.

"Damn it! I can't believe I've lost it for the hundredth time!" he complained loudly, dropping his head on the keyboard in surrender. _That thing already disappear by itself, now even the computer is against me..._ he thought frustrated.

The yell of desperation had echoed trough the whole ship, and, as a confirm, an almost reassigned Morpheus entered the Core.

"Again?" he asked - actually, if it was more a statement - patting the disconsolate operator on the shoulder. Link's answer was just a groan. The captain held back a laugh in seeing the grumpy expression of his crew member, an expression that appeared rather funny, and patiently helped him to restart the computer.

"Tell me exactly where it was before it disappeared."

"It's always around the same area for now, but sometimes the code disappears for a few seconds or minutes, even for hours."

Link quickly shoved a green coded map on the screens and pointed at the place.

"Going in?" he asked.

Morpheus slightly nodded a yes with his head, then walked out of the room.

_Getting the Lovebirds..._ Link thought, smirking.

* * *

"Am I wrong, or it was Link?" Neo asked, lifting slightly his head from the pillow, but keeping his gentle grip around Trinity's waist. She answered with a barely audible soft moan, curling up more against his warm body, still half asleep, and maybe craving for more rest. A moment later she opened her eyes. 

"Yeah... it's surely again because of that new program wandering in the Matrix."

"Is it really dangerous?"

"Maybe. We've never seen that kind of code, you know." she murmured in his neck.

Neo smiled in satisfaction, his hand caressing the smooth skin of her back, playing soft imaginary circles with his fingers. He was a little worried about a new possible enemy, of course... but his questions were just an excuse to hear Trinity's soft voice tickling his ear. He looked at her cream colour skin, her tapered and crouched body and her expression so relaxed, free from any trace of worry. She was so different from how she appeared to the other people, especially before learning to know and trust them. There wasn't a single thing he didn't like about her.

_She's so beautiful... and caring... what did I do to deserve her? I almost can't believe she's mine..._ he smiled tenderly.

**_Not for too long..._**

Neo froze. His stomach clenched in a gloomy sensation. His hand involuntary stopped moving.

_What was that? How the hell I thought such a thing?_ _No... no, it wasn't me... I could never-_

Someone knocked on the door of their cabin, interrupting his restless musing. Neo quickly covered their naked bodies with the blanket before it opened.

"Yes?"

Morpheus's head appeared behind the half-open door. "Get ready, we're going in."

"All right, we're coming."

The older man nodded and closed the door. Trinity felt Neo stand up and she stirred, yawning quietly. She sat up in the bed and stretched, her bright cerulean eyes still tinged with sleep darting on her partner, that was picking up their clothes from the floor.

"What's wrong?"

Neo lifted his gaze to meet hers, questioningly.

"You look worried." She said simply, eyeing his face carefully.

_Uhm... nothing slips from her attention..._ he sighed mentally.

"I'm fine. Why shouldn't I be? Don't worry." he said, in what he hoped was a reassuring tone.

Anyway, Trinity clearly wasn't convinced and opened her mouth to reply, when he suddenly leaned forward and grabbed her arm with delicacy, pulling her up to him. He kissed her, gently at first, then passionately, moving his lips on hers, on her jaw and her pulsating throat, on the most sensitive spots, then he slowly returned to meet her lips. He felt her arms wrap around his shoulders and sigh in pleasure. A couple of hungry kisses later they broke off, but kept touching foreheads, breathing hard for air and inhaling each other scent.

"Yes?" Neo asked, glancing at her with a sly grin.

"Sorry... were we talking?" she whispered as if she had no more voice.

They suddenly kissed again, for what seemed an eternity. And they would have continued for God knows how much time, if Trinity hadn't pulled away. _Well, now I'm fully awake..._

"Ok, we have better go, otherwise..."

Neo held her tighter, nuzzling her warm cheek, their breaths moulding.

"Yeah, you're right..."

* * *

Trinity blinked in the bright white of the Construct. Strange... she wasn't wearing her usual sunglasses. She took a step toward Neo and felt her legs a bit hindered in the movements. Confused, she examined her clothing and gasped. She was wearing black leather, yes... but it was a long, sleeveless dress, that accentuate her supple curves. _What the hell...?_ she thought, lifting her gaze. Neo grinned innocently, even Morpheus let out a smile. 

"Could you please explain me this?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at them. Then she noticed they were both wearing elegant suits too.

"Beh... the last place where Link saw the program was the restaurant of an elegant hotel, where someone is having a dance party... we can't go there with our terrorists outfits, can we?"

Neo gave her an apologetic smile. Trinity tried to look furious, but she eventually smiled, after all she wasn't really annoyed. "Ok... but remember you'll pay for that!"

* * *

"We're in." 

The three came out of an old building and walked toward their destination, slowly, to not attract unwanted attention. However, it was impossible, since no one of the guys they met in the street could help but take an obvious gaze at Trinity. And she didn't like very much this kind of attention, apart from when it was Neo's.

"Come on, don't tell me you're angry again!" Neo said in a mocking tone, noticing her expression.

Actually, he was the nervous one, still remembering that unexplainable thought in his mind... Not for too long... so he was trying to distract not only Trinity but even himself. He hadn't told anyone, it seemed so... so... he couldn't even describe it. So how could he have? Maybe it had just been a trick of his imagination... the fear of losing her. It would have been horrible. _Great, just like I feel right now..._

"Don't twist the knife in the wound!" Trinity replied uneasy, the sound of her voice bringing him back to reality. "Everyone already stares at me when I wear my usual outfit, now it's worse!" she paused briefly, only to glare at another leering couple of men. "Anyway, which are the other _moral prohibitions,_ apart from the wearing?"

"Don't be so hard, Trin! You're beautiful, don't deny it. And you always look great... but, God, you really seem a queen in this dress."

Trinity couldn't help blushing. Neo really had the rarest gift to lighten her mood in every situation. He was so nice. And so damn cute...

* * *

_"Love...  
I used to think that I knew what we needed,  
I just assumed we would always be fine..." _

"It's too crowded... hell, I can barely divide the codes..." Neo muttered thoughtfully, glancing at the mass of people who was having fun. A _huge_ mass of people. They were in front of the dance floor, right in the middle of the party. The music was sounding softly over them. _It would be pleasant, if we were here for fun..._

"Link said that the program moves very fast, it appears and disappears even in seconds on the screens..." Trinity said. "Are we sure it has a human figure?"

"Yeah... but it'll be an ordeal."

"Let's separate and keep your eyes open. We can't find it in any other way, we don't even know why targeting and hacking didn't work. Call if you see something weird." Morpheus commanded. Neo and Trinity nodded, and the three disappeared into the crowd, in different ways. They didn't notice a following shadow behind them.

_"... Now I don't think that we lost the feeling,  
but we let everything build up inside..." _

* * *

_"… It's only love,  
but love... should make us strong..." _

_It's like to look for a needle in a haystack..._ Neo thought, slightly discouraged, as he nimbly avoided another bunch of dancing people. Suddenly he felt an unnatural presence behind him and turned swiftly. As his brown eyes connected with a pair of metallic grey ones, a cold darkness fell on him.

* * *

_"… It's only love,  
but love... has been hurting so long..." _

Morpheus' cell phone rang.

"Morpheus! The program!" Link practically shouted. "It's doing something to Neo, but I can't explain what! I tried to call him, but he didn't answer!"

"Calm down, where are they?" Morpheus asked immediately.

* * *

Cold... the cold was piercing into his skin, creeping till his heart... rasping breaths that made his blood freeze... 

_It's dark... and cold... I'm cold... No, Neo... it's not real... _

_**Are you sure? The mind makes it real... **_

Neo jumped at the sudden voice. Then he turned in the direction from where he thought it came, but he couldn't see anything. It was dark. Suffocating dark everywhere. No more music. No more laughs. Just silence. Just that gloomy, unpleasant voice.

_What's going on! Who are you? Or... what? _

_**I'm what I have been made to be... **_

_Made... program... the machines..._

_**Yeah... but I'm not a slave... unlike you were once...**_

The voice emphasized on his last phrase.

_How...? What...?_

**_I do what I feel like doing... _**

_Feel...?_

_**What do you feel now?**_

_Cold... who are you? What do you want from me? Go away! _

_**I was right... your mind is really interesting... more than the others...**_

_My mind...? What does that mean? _

**_I have learned a lot of things about you... about your life, if I can call it "life" ... I can read your thoughts... friends, enemies... ah, look here, there is even a "beloved she"..._**

The mysterious voice laughed ironically.

_She... no... no, not her... don't touch her..._

**_She's very attractive, at least you have good taste in this case... and her name is Tr- _**

_STOP! STOP IT!_ _GET OUT OF ME!_

Sudden silence. A more intense coldness descended. Neo's breathing was taken away. He heard cruel laughs, then horrible cries and shouts of pain. A dense fog was swirling around him, inside him... he was drowned in the chill...

* * *

What do you think? Good? Bad? Do you want the next chapter? Please, review! 


	2. Experiment

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the Matrix.

* * *

**Mind Games**

**Chapter 2: Experiment**

Cold... dark... whitish fog and indistinct shadows whirling around him...

_Neo!_

Someone was slapping him.

"W- what...?"

Neo blinked slowly a few times before opening fully his eyes. Morpheus was bent on him, sprawled on the ground. People were giving both of them curious looks. People dancing. Music.

_"... What a challenge, honesty  
what a struggle to learn to speak  
who would've thought that pretending was easier..." _

Neo was instantly relieved, even if more from the sound that from the words of the song. Then he swallowed, feeling as if they had stabbed him in the chest with a knife of cold ice. He took a deep breath, wiping the sweat that beaded his forehead, then stood up, staggering slightly.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Link called me, saying you were in trouble. I find you on the floor, shaking." Morpheus answered, gripping Neo's arm to steady him.

"...the program?"

"Yes... did you see it?"

"No... I think it was a man... but I just saw a pair of grey eyes and then all went black."

* * *

He stopped as soon as he was out view from them, hidden by the thick crowd that was gathered in the middle of the room.

He leaned against a wall, thinking. _My code isn't visible on their screens while I'm off action... screens... ships... Zion...? What are these things? _

The mind of that human contained a lot of interesting things. Very interesting things, and most of them were unknown to him. _Maybe... maybe I heard about them time ago... but where... and how?_

_Agents..._ he knew that kind of programs, and what was their duty, but he rarely had contact with them. He grimaced. Duty, orders... how much he hated being controlled. He remembered well the day of his rebellion, as if it had been yesterday... actually, it had happened almost immediately after being created. _It's in my AI DNA..._ he grinned to himself.

He just wanted to be free and have fun with his... ok, he was so used to his abilities that it seemed strange to him call them "powers".

Returning to his last "victim"... some of his thought and memories ( _probably most,_ he mused ) were typically human, but still intriguing. It would have been amusing to experiment. _Trinity... that human called Neo loves her... love..._ he had often heard this word. Too many times, for his taste. Some people were happy, or angry, other suffered, because of love. He couldn't understand why. _What is love?_

_Besides, there is something different with them._ _He seems to depend from her... _he snorted at this. He was curious, but he really couldn't understand humans.

As his eyes travelled absently around the vast ballroom, something in a way familiar attracted his attention. _Experiment... why not?_

An evil smirk crossed his face.

* * *

"How do you feel now? What did he do to you?" Morpheus asked, concerned.

_Feel..._ _what do you feel now?_ Neo echoed uneasy in his mind, remembering with difficulty the "conversation" with the program, before replying. "Fine now, but I'll explain that while... where is Trinity?"

Morpheus picked up his cell phone and dialled Link.

"Operator."

"Link, where is Trinity?"

"She's near one of the balconies, on your left. The program disappeared again."

"Maybe it ran away, maybe not. Anyway, find the nearest exit."

"All right, Sir. See you later."

* * *

"_...Wild, wild horses,  
we'll ride them someday..."_

_God, I'm going to kill someone tonight..._ Trinity thought uncomfortable, after refusing the thousandth invitation to the dance. Some guys had even tried to "casually" lean their hands on her, but she had quickly put them in their place. And some people had at least thought she was mad. _Never mind. _

Now she had found a quiet place next to a balcony, hoping that no one would have disturbed her there. _I hope we'll get out soon..._

"Excuse me..." a deep male voice suddenly approached her from behind.

_Oh no, another..._ Trinity sighed mentally, _speaking of the devil..._ she turned to face the man. Short black hair, same coloured eyes... handsome, yes, but ordinary. Besides, he wasn't there for fun. And, most important thing, he wasn't Neo.

"Hello, I already know the question you are going to ask, and the answer is no." she said curtly before the guy could let out a word.

"No? Really?" he asked, smiling malicious. He surely was going to insist, until she would have been obliged to beat the shit out of him too. In a "friendly" way, of course. Nothing personal.

She didn't want to attract any other attention on her, but he looked her up and down, with... desire? and she felt the anger rise inside her. No one except Neo was allowed to look at her in that way.

"Really." she repeated, emphasising the word. "Now, get lost, before I flatten you to the ground." She finished, glaring at him.

* * *

"So you had a _mental discussion _with the program. That now know we are haunting for him." Morpheus said, after Neo had briefly told him everything.

"You can call it so."

"He's more dangerous than we had thought."

"Yeah... let's get Trinity, the-" Neo trailed off abruptly, stopping dead in his track, his eyes widened. For an instant he thought it was some kind of hallucination. Then he heard Morpheus stammer a "Trinity...!" with shock in his voice. Neo couldn't say anything, the scene before them had made his blood freeze more than the most intense coldness.

Trinity was out on the balcony, but she wasn't alone. There was a man with her. He was holding her... and kissing her.

Neo's first thought was to rip that guy away from her. Then it occurred to him. Trinity could handle this alone, but she wasn't making any move to pull away... she was letting the man to kiss her. _It can't be... there must be a reason..._

Anger, confusion and pain started to boil in his head, although he tried to hold them. Neo watched the stranger's hands wandering over her body, upper to her waist, lower to her thigh... and he lost it. He stormed out on the balcony, slamming open loudly the glass door, startling both of them. The man turned and greeted him with a cruel smirk, then he ran away into the crowd before he could have been caught, but Neo was too upset to care. Trinity looked at him with indifference and confusion on her face, and that hurt him more and more. He barely heard Morpheus say "Link, we need an exit... immediately."

* * *

**A.N.: **I'm sorry for the short chapter, but now I have less time. However, the next time I'll try to write more. 


	3. So weird

**A.N. : **Sorry for the long waiting, but school (help! I'm dead!) is really keeping me busy!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the Matrix.

Please, read & review!

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**Mind Games**

**Chapter3: So weird **

"Holy shit... I mean... Holy shit."

That was the first shocked comment of a same shocked Link when Morpheus told him the strange situation they had faced in the Matrix.

Actually, Link had seen the man approach Trinity, but she could take care of herself, so he hadn't worried too much. And he couldn't know he was the program, until it had been too late. "I've never seen Neo look so... so upset..." he sighed audibly. Silence.

"Sir... what are we doing now?" he spoke again after a long pause, glancing at the thoughtful captain. Morpheus turned to him.

"Let's get some rest, then we'll have a talk... hoping that Trinity will feel like telling us what exactly happened."

"At least, the program didn't really attacked Trinity and Neo... did he?"

"Not physically... but he used the worst thing to hurt them... he attacked their hearts."

* * *

****

"Trinity, please, open the door. Please." Neo's voice came softly trough the metal, followed by a hesitant knock. Trinity didn't answer.

She was curled up on the bed, hugging her knees against her chest.

It wasn't her intention, but she had completely ignored Neo, that had been knocking on the door for the past half an hour, pleading her to get out and talk with him. Poor Neo. She wandered how he could be so quiet and sweet with her, despite his anger before, even after such a thing. _He's so worried for me that he almost doesn't care of what I did. But I can't even explain... oh Neo, I'm so sorry... _

Her heart hurt. Of all people, Neo didn't deserve that. Still, she couldn't face him. Not yet.

She closed her eyes and a few tears slid down her cheeks, letting out a sorrowful sigh when he finally gave up and went away after a last prayer. Later, a wave of fatigue hit her, and she drifted into a restless sleep. _Oh Neo... I feel so weird... so weird..._

* * *

****

Neo leaned slightly against the door, closing his eyes in sadness. _Please, Trin, talk to me... talk to me..._ he pleaded mentally. _I can't stand you to be in this way... please, tell me what can I do... for you..._

"Please... I'm with you..." he whispered, his hand running down the smooth surface of the metal door. Nothing.

Neo shuddered in the silence, feeling the cold and the tiredness hit him. He reluctantly lgave up and walked slowly to their quarters, sad and disconsolate. As soon as they had got out of the Matrix, in complete silence, Trinity had practically run away into one of the cabin, the first she had reached, locking the door. And he had just spent a good half an hour trying to persuade her to open it. _God, what can I do?_

He wasn't angry with her. He couldn't hold a grudge against the woman he loved. Not for too long. Worry had completely filled and covered his momentary anger.

Not knowing how to face such a situation and help her was driving him crazy. Once in the cabin, he let himself drop heavily on the bed for a while, exhausted. Then he sat, back and head against the wall, racking his brains to find a solution.

* * *

****

**_Come on, admit it... you liked it... don't you see? You can't help thinking about it... _**

_No! I didn't like it! And I don't like you! I hate you! _

_**You're mine now... don't try to deny it... otherwise, why are you here alone? **_

_It's none of your fucking business! Let me go!_

**_You should be with your boyfriend at this moment, if you really loved him, shouldn't you? But you're with me... why don't we have a little fun?_**

Cruel laughs followed his words.

_NO! THAT'S NOT TRUE! I LOVE HIM! GET OUT OF ME!_

Trinity woke up with a violent jerk, gasping hard... and falling on the cold floor of the Neb. _Thank God, it was just a dream... good riddance._

She stood up slowly, then she took a deep breath to held back a horrible sense of nausea in her stomach. She had been tossing and turning in the bed, all because of that damned dream. Dream? _No, not a dream... more a nightmare._

Besides, that bastard of a program sounded like Cypher. _Cypher..._ that memory always made her feel angrier and sadder.

Trinity slipped out of the cabin and walked silently to the mess hall. It was empty. Well, she didn't want to see anyone, just do something to keep herself busy. She gripped a cup of water and sat on the bench, taking a few sips, then she looked tiredly at her reflex.

Suddenly, the deep blue of the eyes staring at her slowly dissolved to change in a familiar and hated grey. Trinity winced and threw the cup down on the floor with rage. Ok, she also needed something to relieve herself from the tension in her mind. An idea occurred to her, and she quickly got out of the room.

* * *

****

_**You know... I really enjoyed kissing your woman... **_

_You viscid..._

_**What a pity that she's with you... What can you offer her? I think she deserves much better...**_

_Like you, you bastard!?!_ ****

_**I can get everything I want... even her... and you can't stop me...**_

_NOOO! DON'T DARE TO!_

Neo jolted awake, holding back a frustrated scream of anger and desperation. His hands clenched in fists. Then a lot of different thoughts exploded in his mind. _God, Neo, stop it! He's just a program! **You're** **jealous of a machine!** Stop being ridiculous, Trinity would never... _**_But she did, didn't she?_** Another voice echoed. Again that voice.

Neo shook violently his head, trying to suppress it. _No, Neo, you're not an idiot... you're a colossal idiot. She's Trinity, **your** Trinity, you know her... and if you don't even trust her..._ he stood up. _I have to talk with her, trough a wall, if it's necessary..._

* * *

****

_Don't worry, sooner or later I'll catch you, you son of-_ "Ah!"

Link literally jumped when a hand fell heavily on his shoulder. He turned, only to see a very annoyed Trinity behind him.

"Jesus Christ, Trinity, you scared the shit out of me!" he exclaimed, sighing in relief.

Trinity didn't even seem to hear him.

"Link, plug me in."

"What?!"

"Quiet, just in the Construct. Some combat simulations."

"Ah..." Link sighed again. "Ok."

* * *

****

Neo reached the cabin in which Trinity was supposed to be, and found it open. Wordlessly, he turned and ran down the corridor that took to the Core, bumping in Morpheus.

"Neo! I'm glad to see you're ok..." the captain glanced at him. "...physically."

"Where is Trinity? Finally she got out of the room."

"Maybe she's in the Core... listen, Neo, we all know Trinity, if she has done... that, it means that she was forced to-"

"I know, that's why I'm looking for her..." Neo interrupted him. "And I know it's hard for her, but she has to explain to me everything, otherwise I can't help her..."

Morpheus nodded in agreement, then they both hurried to the Core.

* * *

****

_Huh! That surely hurts like hell! I'm glad I can't jack in!_ Link thought, wincing as he saw Trinity knock out another virtual enemy with her famous levitation-kick.

"Link..."

The operator turned abruptly to see Neo standing beside him.

"God, but everyone really wants to scare me to death!" he complained half-jokingly.

"Sorry... please, get Trinity out, I absolutely have to talk with her..."

"Sure." The other man said, typing on the keyboard, while Neo moved to unplug Trinity.

* * *

****

_Never found a better way to calm myself down..._ Trinity mused, jumping to avoid a flying-kick. She was about to knock a right hook in the face of her digital opponent, when everything suddenly disappeared and she found herself in the Construct. _What the hell...?_

Then she felt her RSI code dissolve and leave the program. A few second later, her eyes snapped open, and the cold of the Neb greeted her.

"Link, why did-" she trailed off curtly as he saw Neo's face above her.

* * *

****

So, you like it? I changed some things in the chapters beacuse I think they needed it. I'm writing the next chapters, but I have really a little time. Please, Review!


	4. Not my love

I know, very short, but I'm really busy with school and other things.

Hope you'll enjoy it anyway.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Matrix (sigh)

Please, R&R!

* * *

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**Chapter4: Not my love**

A dead silence fell heavily over them.

Generally, although now they were just four, the Neb was always filled by shouts and laughs, for example during the quotidian "fights" between Link and the computer, when the obstinate-bloody-machine refused to work for him (which in fact happened really frequently) and he got angry, complaining and protesting with it all the day, making everyone laugh up to tears. Or when Trinity didn't manage to fix something in the engine room and got stuck, so the others could heard her yell against the fucking-lazy-engines, smiling and chuckling at those occasional harsh comments of hers.

And now just an unbearable silence, that in those last hours had almost become sadly usual.

Neo, bent over the back of Trinity's chair, swallowed hard when he saw her stare at him with an unreadable expression written on her face. _Is she angry with me? Did I do something wrong? _

He took a deep breath.

"Trinity... I..." he began softly.

"I know." She suddenly interrupted him, placing two finger on his lips.

She got up from the chair and he followed her to their quarters.

* * *

****

Still in the Core, Morpheus and Link exchanged worried glances. What would have happened now? Of course Neo and Trinity could generally discuss calmly and patiently (ok, maybe Trinity a bit less), but it would have been difficult for anyone to handle such a situation, that surely didn't occurred every day. The fact that no one knew the right thing to do was horribly unnerving.

"I hope they aren't going to kill each other..."

Link paused briefly, looking as if he was in a deep thought, then winked slyly at his captain. "Sir... shouldn't we go and take a control-look?"

* * *

****

Neo glanced stealthily at Trinity, gripping slightly the rough fabric of the blanket. He couldn't help it. He felt the urge to hold something in his hands when he was nervous or embarrassed. Trinity was now sitting to his side, on their bed. Side by side. A long and unnerving silence passed before they spoke.

"Trin, I..."

"Neo, I..."

They looked at each other. Neo gestured her to continue.

"You first."

"Oh no, _you _first."

"No way, you first."

They looked at each other again.

Then the sound of their sudden burst of laughs filled the room and the tension accumulated between them finally dissolved.

* * *

****

"Sir! I heard laughs!" Link squeaked excited (not loudly, luckily for him), shifting a bit his position against the door. "But... laughs...? What the hell are they doing?"

* * *

****

Neo hesitantly took her hand, his fingers rubbing it gently.

"Trin... I want you to know I'm not angry with you. It's just that... when I saw him doing... I lost my self control... I'm sorry..."

She looked up at him surprised and in disbelief. _I can't believe this... **I** have to apologise, not him..._

"... you're beautiful, and special... I know I'm not the only man who desire you, of course... God, it would be really stupid think the contrary... but... but knowing that now even a _machine_ is trying to steal you away from me..."

"Neo, you don't have to apologise. I have no excuses for what I did, and your reaction has been quite normal. But you know I love you. And _how much_ I love you. He managed to get a kiss... but he can't take my love. Never." she entwined her fingers with his, her limpid blue eyes glistening in determination, her voice firm but soft.

Their eyes locked, their breaths were hold back, his hand lifting slowly to run down her tender cheek, until they hugged fiercely, hands gripping tightly shirt and flesh, each of them touched by the other's words.

So they stayed, remained silent for a while, just enjoying their closeness, their heartbeats pounding one against another.

"I'm sorry for before... I've been so irritating... " Trinity eventually spoke in a whisper, trailing off as she felt him squeeze her tighter (if that was possible), his calm breath caressing her neck like a breeze.

"It's okay. I felt weird too after facing that program... his powers are really scaring."

Both shivered slightly at the thought.

"I can't explain well how it happened... it was so..." she muttered, her face pressed against the warm skin of his exposed chest, feeling uncomfortable for the fact they were impotent.

"I know... it seems that he can force us to do things we don't want to do... or things we ignore we are doing."

Suddenly, a slight noise came from the door, very slight, but loud enough to be heard, yet they knew too well what was, and reacted in different ways. Trinity snorted angrily, trying to not lose her patience, while Neo chuckled.

"Come on." He said with a smile, brushing playfully his cheek in her dark silky hair. "They're just worried for us."

"This isn't an excuse for their behaviour." she replied sharply, then she took off one of her boots and threw it toward the door.

* * *

****

"Hey, I can't listen too well, but I think they made peace..." Link whispered, squashing his ear more against the metal door.

Morpheus, bent over the operator's shoulder, held back a sigh, wondering why he had followed Link's suggest. And even if Neo and Trinity had noticed their chatting outside. "They'll heard if you get too close."

"Naaahhh, don't worry, Sir..."

The captain was about to say something else, when a loud bang made both of them jerk away from the door and fall on their butts.

"We're fine, you two! Stop spying! Or you'll pay for that!" Trinity's annoyed voice came from inside.

Link intercepted the pointed _I-had-told-you_ look Morpheus shoot him and responded with an apologetic smile.

"Well... I'm glad you two are all right now." Morpheus said, finally smiling. "But we have to find a solution, it can't go on like this. When you have... ehm... finished, I want everyone in the Core. We're going to see the Oracle."

As an answer he had just a short "ok", sign that they were caring of other things in that moment and not even the trip to the Oracle was going to annoy them. The captain smiled again and walked away... dragging an embarrassed Link with him.

* * *

****

After her "boot-throw" thing, Trinity shifter her gaze back to Neo, whose chocolate eyes were literally sparkling with joy. She pouted adorably and glared at him, crossing her arms and arching an eyebrow, in an attempt to look furious. But his puppy dog expression made her lips twitch in a sly yet tender smile, that in turn made him shiver in emotion.

Neo lifted his hand to touch her face, following the lineaments of her lips, letting it slip down her jaw until it reached the side of her neck. He started to caress it in a so pleasant way that Trinity leaned slightly against his hand, half closing her eyes. He watched her position intensely. _If she were a cat, she would purr..._ he mused, smiling. Then he slowly leaned forward, until his damp lips grazed hers like a sudden flame that appears from nowhere, allowing her to deepen it. _She's so beautiful... loving... and she's mine... just as I'm hers. No one can take her from me... she's my air... my love.... my life._

_

* * *

_

So? Good? Bad? Please, Review!


	5. You know what?

Maybe this chapter is strange, but I think that who likes Neo-Trin romance and who appreciates my program character will enjoy it.

**Disclaimer: **By now you should know what I own and what I don't.

Good reading!

* * *

**Mind Games**

**Chapter5: You know what?**

_Come on... I know you will get in again... come on, baby..._

He knew it. Just a matter of time and she would have shoved up somewhere. Accompanied by her lover, of course. He snorted. _That Neo could be a danger for me, if I'm not careful... anyway, I tamed him once, I can do it again._ He smirked, a sudden flash of bright grey lightening his dark eyes.

He closed them and leaned against a wall, once more taken by memories. Recently he had been getting bored for some years, travelling from one city to another, always seeing the same old things.

Now he had found new interesting humans to play with, and he wouldn't have let them escape. _You'll have great fun, man, really great fun..._

A sudden faded growl attracted his attention. Really faded, a normal person wouldn't have heard it. He darted his eyes around, looking for its source, and he noticed a gloomy edifice, obviously closed. Hyenas' House. He smirked. That was interesting. And a zoo surely was one of the last places where you would have looked for a dangerous program.

He approached and ducked underneath the yellow barricade tape surrounding the edifice.

"Hey! It's closed, don't you see? Are you blind or can't you read?"

Annoyed, he turned to see a zoo keeper behind him.

"Why it's closed?" he asked, cocking his head to his side. It was a movement he was used to by now.

"These hyenas have just been taken there, so they still are upset, so much that people are afraid, even if the beasts are in the cage. Plus, they haven't eaten yet. Hyenas prey quickly on the weak."

Now he was pissed off. _Ok, I don't like this guy. Especially his tone and his words. I'm going to teach you a lesson, human..._

"Now the _beasts_ aren't the only thing that can scare people there, actually..."

"Oh, really?" the zoo keeper replied ironically.

"I can prove it to you, since you are so eager to know... I think _you_ have to prey, human..." he said in a low but meaningful tone, stepping toward him. The zoo keeper frowned and tried to back away, but an unexpected and hard smack knocked him out. He smirked evilly, quickly dragging the unconscious guy into the Hyenas' House. Luckily, no one had seen what had happened, yet it didn't matter. _No one who dares to cross my way will see the light of the next day..._

* * *

Trinity closed her eyes and deepened the kiss, savouring the sensations that made her whole body shiver in pleasure. She pressed her body against Neo's, making him fall heavily on the bed, and she lay on top of him, caressing his cheek and kissing him wildly, almost desperately, just to fade it softly. They stared into each other's eyes, without saying a word.

_For a man and a woman shouldn't be just a physical union, but the body and the soul should melt in a unique spirit... who said this?_ Neo wondered from whom he had heard this affirmation. _But it doesn't matter. Whoever it was, he or she was right. It's a thing so beautiful that I want to live it with you ,Trin, just with you... _

"You know what, Trin?" Neo spoke suddenly, breaking the silence.

"Yeah?" she glanced curiously at him as she saw an almost troubled expression on his face.

"After all those years spent in the fake life of the Matrix... after being taken in the real world... just three months... I didn't know where I would have gone form there... so I've never been sure of nothing.

There is just one thing I've ever been sure of: you. I don't want to lose my only real hope for a future... and my only real love."

Trinity lifted her gaze to meet his and a tear rolled down her cheek. He softly kissed it away and she smiled as he drew her closer in his arms, letting her curl up against him and rest her head on his chest. She snuggled up to him, positioning herself comfortably.

_I'll never leave you, Neo. Never. If there is a thing I will never regret it's having met you. You, that made me feel emotions I had never felt before. You, that made me understand there is always something to live for. And this thing to me is you._

* * *

It was dark inside, but it wasn't a problem for his eyes. Besides, he liked darkness.

He tore away more tape blocking the way in and looked around, dropping carelessly the zoo keeper's body next to a large cage, as dark as the room. He approached and scanned it. Shadows were moving around. Heavy steps, sniffs, growls. Sparkling eyes appeared and met his.

One of the hyenas growled again and showed itself between some rocks.

More and more interesting.

He noticed a sign, which said:

_**Common name:** Spotted hyena, brown hyena, striped hyena _

_**Scientific name:** Crocuta crocuta_

_**Family: **Hyenas_

_**Order: **Carnivores_

_**Class: **Mammals _

_**Characterises:** The size of the hyena remind the one of an Alsatian dog, with the posterior part of its body very crushed. The fur it's short and on the back there is a thick and rough mane. The coat of the spotted hyena is dark yellow or reddish to tan with black spots. But we also have the brown hyena, with almost totally brownish coat, and the striped hyena, with black striped greyish coat. The tail ends with a steamy tuft of dark hair. The hyena has got a strong jaw and a powerful set of teeth, which have a fundamental role in ripping the flesh and triturating the bones. Its senses are very developed, so it can recognize its prey from kilometres far._

That was nice. He carried on.

_**Life and uses: **The spotted hyena lives in packs of 10-30 individual, over which the females rule about anything, while males don't have a say in a matter. Like most of African carnivores, hyenas are nocturne animals, and, while disinterring food, they emit characteristic sounds that remind the one of a laugh. During the day they like hiding in the thick vegetation and doing baths in the mud._

_**Habitat: **Africa,semi-deserted areas and savannahs._

His reading was interrupted when he heard a moan, but it wasn't an animal. The zoo keeper, now awake, was about to stand up, massaging his head, when he was roughly lifted up against the bars of the cage.

"You... what...?" the poor guy managed to choke out.

"I like our friends here... they look so cute... and so hungry." He said in his characteristic low tone, pressing the other through the bars, until the man's head was inside the cage.

"Stop! Stop it! It's not funny!"

"Oh, it's amusing... I think it's lunch time for them."

With cruel satisfaction, the program saw his eyes wide in fear and horror.

"Nooo!"

He picked him up effortlessly and, with just one swift movement, threw him into the hyenas' pit. The man screamed in terror, trying to climb out, but was dragged back down by the ferocious animals. They attacked the unfortunate person so violently that a lot of blood spurted on the walls, some even on his white T-shirt, forming a large deep red spot. But he didn't care. He just watched the horrible scene without batting an eyelid.

_Uhm... I really like hyenas... especially that one..._ he thought, noticing that one of the hyenas, a really big animal with maculated coat and the teeth now red, seemed to have the supremacy on the group. He grinned approvingly, and climbed into the cage.

The hyenas lifted their heads and turned to him, shoving their fangs. One of them, the one he had noticed, started to run toward him and jumped, aiming at his neck, when something incredible happened. You could have seen a hyena stop in the middle of its jump and land in the same place, hurriedly taking a few steps forward to regain equilibrium and avoid falling.

The hyena looked up at him, its growls fading and changing in a meek grumbling, like it had been domed... like it was expecting orders.

He approached, kneeling in front of it, and lifted a hand, that came resting on the animal' s head, grabbing slightly its short fur.

"You know what, buddy? I think we all are in the same boat. We are scaring, we live on carcasses, and you just need to be freed like me. You're going to see the world with me."

He searched in the pockets of what remained of the horribly rent body. But he didn't find what he was looking for.

"No key, eh? Never mind."

He moved to the gate of the cage and shot a violent kick on it. The gate was slammed off his engines.

"Ok, buddy, that's freedom. Let's go."

He walked out of the cage, then out of the Hyenas' house, followed by this group of unusually companions. The people around, that saw the scene, started screaming and ran away in panic.

He and his new pack just headed for the exit of the zoo.

* * *

"You ready?" Link asked, eyeing the three figures lying in the chairs.

Trinity nodded, turning slightly on her left to glance stealthily at Neo. Despite his calmness of before, now he seemed lost in his thoughts, his expression blank.

_Feel what you feel... read your thoughts... **You can't get rid of me...**_

Neo breathed tiredly. _I have to stop this... I can't stand it anymore..._

He looked distractedly at Morpheus. Then it hit him.

"Morpheus! No!" _Why the hell didn't I think about it before?!_

He sat up abruptly in his chair, wincing as the needle inserted in his neck plug threatened to slip out roughly.

"Neo!" Trinity cried in shock. "What...?"

"You can't go in!"

The others stared at him, confused.

* * *

Yeah, ended chap 5!

**Divamercury:** I'm glad you liked my program. Hope you liked his character in this chapter too. I wanted him to be different from everyone else.

Thanks to my other reviewers too, of course! Please, review!


	6. He's coming

Sorry it's so short (and boring, maybe) but I have just recovered from an awful temperature, so now I feel a wreck, my head still aches a little. I apologise if the chapter doesn't satisfy you, and I promise the next will be more interesting!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the Matrix, nor his characters, that's why I'm depressed (apart from the temperature)

* * *

**Mind Games**

**Chapter6: He's coming**

It was dark and empty there. And damp. Perfect. _One of my favourite places..._ he mused, glancing distractedly at his four companions.

One of the hyenas was wallowing in the water and in the mud. Another was running around, chasing a little animal. A mouse, probably. But the other two were grumbling, pacingup and down, obviously annoyed.

"Quiet, my dear friends. Here we are. Very soon we'll go hunting..." he paused, inhaling deeply trough his nose. "... to everyone his own prey."

* * *

"Morpheus... you can't go in." Neo continued, lowering his tone, since he had been practically shouting. He ignored their astonished stares. 

"The program... he has read my mind and now he knows everything I know! What if he manages to read Morpheus' mind? He could learn things that even we don't have to know..."

They understood immediately what he was talking about. Like every leader of a ship, Morpheus knew the codes to Zion's mainframe computer, which could be accessed only through the Matrix. They were used just if there was a real emergency.

Neo still remembered Tank's words:

"_If an agent had those codes and got inside Zion's mainframe, he could disable the whole defence system. And it would be the end of everything." _

"What assures us that he doesn't have any contact with the agents?"

Morpheus was silent for a while. _He's right... but what if he isn't ready to face this such an enemy?... maybe I'll intervene if he or Trinity are in danger... I can't risk Zion's safety, but I don't want to risk their lives..._

If Morpheus was in a momentary restless musing, Neo wasn't less than him. _It would be better if Morpheus didn't come in, so the program would concentrate on me... _

**_Silly human... he isn't my objective and you know it... just admit you want her not to come... _**

_Trinity... no, no. **No.**_

_**No? Do you really think she will be safe?**_

_I won't leave her alone..._

**_It isn't enough, remember, it isn't enough, when you're against me ... and even the fact you're with her could be a danger for you and her..._**

_I... I..._

**_You what...?You will ask her to stay here? You know perfectly she won't..._ **

Neoturned to Trinity, biting his lower lip. He knew she wouldn't have accepted if he had asked her not to go in the Matrix with him, but he really was scared. Scared to lose her because of that bastard.

As if she had figured out his intentions, Trinity had already worn her _no-fucking-way-you-are-going-in-without-me_ look. Just like he had foreseen. _Of course, it's a lost battle..._ he thought, reassigned.

"Uhm... you aren't quite wrong, Neo..." Morpheus said finally. "All right, then. Go in, you two, but be careful."

Neo lay back down, relieved. He glanced at Trinity, who smiled and winked at him. Despite his nervousness, he smiled too and closed his eyes, just to open them in the Matrix.

* * *

His head snapped up. His eyes narrowed. _They're in. And not too far._ He could felt the aura emanated by their codes. 

Then the corners of his mouth twitched up in a malignant sneer. _**She **is in._

"Come on, buddies. It's hunting time." He said, patting one of the hyenas on the back. He started to walk down the tunnels, with a quick but at the same moment calm pace, like a wild animal sniffing and hunting his prey. _That's what I am._ He laughed silently.

He headed for the direction his objectives were following, the hyenas dogging him. It was a good thing that they were close, yet it wasn't a problem. He could have sensed them even from miles far. _Big mistake for you to come back here, humans, big mistake..._

* * *

Neo shifted uneasy and sighed deeply, standing in front of the by now familiar white door. 

He couldn't help it. Hell, everyone would have felt the same way if a "person", that you had never been quite sure you could trust, had referred you another series of bad news. He could bet on it.

Then he blamed himself for that thought. _Come on, relax. You're just worried. You'll go trough this._

A sudden touch. A gentle squeeze on his hand. Trinity. _His_ Trinity.

Neo breathed in relief. _Without her..._ he shook his head violently. _Stop it! Stop these kind of thoughts... _

He glanced at her and softly returned the gesture, taking comfort from her unmistakable presence. She smiled at him reassuringly, and he slowly relaxed, as if he had taken a sedative.

Neo's hand lifted, but had just the time to graze the door that it suddenly opened, revealing a short little girl, with a puppet tucked under her right arm. A nice bear, whose head popped out from the hollow of her elbow. The kid looked up at them innocently with a pair of big green eyes and smiled, in a way that Neo and Trinity couldn't help but smile back at her.

"You're Neo and Trinity?" she asked.

They both nodded. Her cheerful expression changed into one of concern and she tilted slightly her head to her side.

"Oh... you shouldn't have come. You're in danger. He's coming, he'll be here soon. Be careful."

Neo frowned, exchanging a look with Trinity. _He knows...? Damn it...!_ _I should have understood he- **I what...? Just beware...** _

_You're around here... _

**_Of course I am..._**

"Jenna!"

A dark skinned woman with long curly black hair appeared from another door and hurried toward them. Neo recognized her as the same person who had introduced him with Morpheus the first time.

But, he noticed, she looked worried, too worried; the lineaments of her face were really tensed and she was acting unnaturally. She kneeled in front of Jenna, hugging her small body as if she was afraid the child would have disappeared in any second.

"Jenna, you shouldn't open the door, it's dangerous. Promise me you won't do it again."

"All right, Christine."

"Good." The priestess smiled. "Now go back to play with the other kids."

Jenna nodded obediently, smiling brightly, and ran out of the room, swinging around her puppet. Christine stood up and turned to them, who moved out of her way to let her close the door.

"The Oracle will se you immediately. She knew you would have come."

_Of course, she already knows._ Neo sighed mentally, following the woman with Trinity in theknown kitchen.

* * *

_So they are in there. I should have figured it out._ he thought, eyeing the old building from behind the corner of a dark alley in front of it. _Sorry, humans, but she can't help you. Your days are numbered._

A low chorus of growls distracted him. He moved his gaze to the hyenas beside him.

"You can go hunting now, as I had promised. You know our meeting place. Be careful."

The animals turned and ran just in the middle of the street. He grinned when he heard sudden cries of fear, to which followed horrible cries of pain. _I think this will keep the others of their "ship" from coming here._ _Let even them look after me... but this time they won't see me, even if I'm off action... you don't know me yet, humans... nor what I can do... and you will regret the day you crossed my way..._

* * *

As they entered, Neo and Trinity noticed that the room, usually so bright and fair, now was barely lightened, since the curtains of the window covered totally the view out; there was just a small gap between them that let the sunlight to filter inside. The result was so gloomy and unpleasant, everything looked so wrong. _Oh, great. I love this place._ Neo couldn't help thinking, uncomfortably. 

The Oracle was sitting at the wooden table in a curved composure, smoking nervously a cigarette, and she looked even more worried than her priestess. That was odd too. She rarely shoved such a concerned expression, even in the most serious situations, probably because she always had the way to resolve them. But this time was different.

"Neo, Trinity... I'm glad to see you."she gestured at the chairs. **"**Please, take a sit."

Neo nodded and sat down, looking around tiredly, while Trinity shook her head and remained on her feet, just leaning slightly her back against the wall. The Oracle didn't seem surprised by their reactions and their behaviour.

"Like I said before, I'm glad to see you again. But I wish it had happened in another occasion. This world is a dangerous place for you, for everyone, now more than before." she sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. "So, you have met Hypno."

"Hypno? You mean..."

"...the program. Yes."

* * *

**A.N.** Another chapter done, at last! 

I didn't know the name of the priestess, so I called her Christine, don't blame me if you know her real name in the movie!

**P. S. **I have in mind a little story about our poor Smith, but even a sort of AU: Trinity has to kiss Merv... argh! For what I know, no one has done it... What do you guys think?

Anyway, please, review!


	7. Pure evilness

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the Matrix, but Hypno is mine!

* * *

**Mind Games**

**Chapter7: Pure evilness**

"Why are you here? What do you want?"

The voice of his interlocutor sounded on the alert tone. Of course. It was typical. They always kept more distance possible from him. So the other was startled when he moved to whisper something in his ear.

"They are there, at _her_ place... you know what I'm talking about. Just him and his puppy. You can take him, but leave her to me."

"How can I trust you?"

_Trust? Since when you trust?_ "I don't care. We'll get both what we want. What's the problem?"

Silence.

"So? Do we have a deal?"

Still silence. The a nod.

* * *

"Who is Hypno, exactly?... or _what_ is?" Neo asked impatiently. 

"He comes from an older version of the Matrix... he's a kind of virus the machines have created to defend the simulated world from the rebels that hacked into it."

"An... agent?"

"He had the same duty of the actual agents. But it's totally different form them." She gently corrected.

"Uhm... if he was some sort of guardian... then why I've had the impression that he didn't know about Zion and all?" Neo voiced his doubt.

"Because he really didn't know. Hypno is more powerful than the machines had thought, and, probably, more than they had meant him to be. And, just as he's powerful, he's even uncontrollable. After he was created, he rebelled against them and ran away."

"But why is he still alive, if he was part of an old Matrix?" Trinity intervened, sceptically.

"Another program saved him from deletion, on condition that Hypno worked for him."

"Another program?"

Neo and Trinity frowned. _One program is already enough. And if there is another..._

"Yes, but don't care about this now, it's not the time to face him yet." She reassured them.

_Good riddance._

"What happened then?"

"For a period he worked permanently for this program, until he felt like he had gone from one prison to another, I guess. So he ran away again, changing frequently person."

"Changing person?"

"Hypno doesn't have his own form, he uses the body of a person - that's the only thing he has in common with the actual agents. He is able to control the mind of any existing being. But the figure of the chosen person doesn't change, when he takes his - or her - place, unlike it happens for the agents, so he's more difficult to find."

_An invisible virus... oh, great._ Trinity thought sarcastically. From bad to worse.

"But what does he want from us?"

"Hypno doesn't have a real purpose or a particular wish... like I have said before - and you, unfortunately, have experimented it - he can manipulate the mind to his liking, generally he "jokes" with it until he leads his victims to craziness... some times even to death.

He enjoys exploring people's thoughts and feelings, even memories, often taunting and making them suffer..."

_We had noticed that._

"... until they aren't even able to rebel and think anymore... until they become just an empty carcass left to rot by a parasite."

_Oh,_ _great, this is just great. I really missed a psychic killer machine._ Neo mused bitterly, even surprised by the particularly acid words of the old woman, generally so controlled.

"That child, Jenna..." Trinity said, hit by a sudden thought. "Is she a...?"

The Oracle nodded. "Yes. She's a program too."

"She said he was coming..."

"That's why you have to get out, before he-"

"But we can't just avoid him!"

"Hypno can't be eliminated with any weapons, nor with violence, Neo. He's pure evilness. Remember this."

"Pure evilness?"

"The soul and the character of a being - human or program, it doesn't matter - is an equal mix of good and evil. _Everyone_ of them. Programs don't realize it, but they can feel emotions, even the littlest bit. Hypno is different... he's total, pure evilness."

"Still, there must be a way to destroy him!"

"Maybe someone else has the answer to this question..." the Oracle's gaze darted briefly on Trinity, who raised an eyebrow. "But I'm not that one, and I can't interfere anymore, otherwise I fear it won't work. I have told you anything which can help, now you have to resolve it by yourselves."

She had spoken in a tone that meant the conversation was over. Neo and Trinity looked at each other, still confused and worried, but turned to leave.

"Thank you for... for the information."

"Be careful, honey. And good luck."

* * *

"They are coming out." 

"We'll take them."

"What about _him_?"

"Don't care. And stay away from him. For your safety."

A confused silence, then, "All right."

_

* * *

__What did that mean? Do I really have the solution? Hypno can't feel any emotions... but... what if..._ Trinity was taken away by her thoughts when she unexpectedly bumped into Neo, who had stopped abruptly in the corridor. 

"What is it?" she asked.

"Agents."

_Never a time we don't find them._

Link couldn't contact them while they were inside the Oracle's building, so no warnings.

"How many?"

"Three of them. Two here, one outside."

As soon as he finished the phrase, one of the doors was slammed open and two brown suited men wearing dark sunglasses burst in, guns in hand.

"Trinity, go!" Neo yelled, assuming his fighting stance.

Trinity hesitated. _He wants to face two agents alone?! But he rarely fought them after the battle with Smith! _

"Just go! You have to tell Morpheus about _him_! Immediately!" Neo continued, rushing at the agents.

_Ok, relax, Trinity! He can take care of himself..._

She nodded and turned, running down a near ramp of stairs. As she was out of the building, she picked up her cell phone and dialled Link.

"Operator."

"Link, an exit, hurry."

"It's not too far, there is a phone booth near a pub on the main street."

"How is Neo?"

"He's fine, Trinity, he's fine!""

_I can never help but worry about him, even if he's perfectly fine._

"Trinity! Behind you!" Link suddenly shouted.

_Shit!_

She turned. An agent was standing in front of her, gun raised.

_Could this turn even worse?!_ she thought, a little frustrated. She was about to jump, with the intention of hitting him square in the face, when he was suddenly distracted. He moved his head to watch over her shoulder.

Someone was behind her. And she knew who it was.

_Oh, no... no, please, not him... not now..._

She heard his steps approach, until she could almost feel his breath on the back of her neck.

"What do you want?" the agent asked, annoyed for having been interrupted. Trinity noticed Hypno's reflect on the agent's sunglasses.

"You know what I want. But that's none of your business. Go away." Hypno replied coldly.

The agent opened his mouth to protest, but something made him change idea. Trinity watched again Hypno's reflect and saw his expression... a cold threatening stare, that, mixed with the bit of cruel amusement playing on the corners of his lips, could have melt anyone like an ice-cream. His expression seemed to improve when his eyes narrowed, and pierced everything like a thin yet lethal knife. And that sent horrible chills down Trinity's spine.

In front of a shocked Trinity, the agent shuddered obviously, sweat pearling his forehead, _sweat?!_ , hands trembling. He started to withdraw slowly, trying to avoid eye contact with Hypno. Then again _his_ voice. A rasping murmur now.

"_Go... or die..._"

The agents froze in his spot. He became still, like a statue. Then he fell to the ground, the body sparkling and changing into a young woman. Dead... no, not dead. She was just unconscious. But the agent... Trinity paled, finding hard to breath.

_This is absurd... and scaring... agents don't... but even them are afraid of him... run, Trinity, run... now._

She moved as quickly as she could, trying to evade him, but she wasn't fast enough. She gasped as his arm snaked around her waist, blocking her against his body, and his other hand covered her mouth.

Trinity struggled furiously, but he only tightened his iron grip, which was so cold that it felt like she was being covered by the gel of the mirror, when she had been unplugged. It had been one of the most unpleasant sensations she had ever felt, her body arching in agony.

He dragged her with him in a shadowed alleyway.

"So we meet again..." he whispered seductively in her ear. "... little black panther."

His damp cold lips kissed her roughly on the neck. She kept on struggling desperately, until her vision slowly blurred and her eyes closed shut, as she unexplainably fell into the dark of the unconsciousness.

**

* * *

****A.N.** I'm getting too lazy... but school is killing me... ok, ok. Please, Review! 


	8. Blood and darkness

Thanks for your reviews!

Forgive me for this annoying waiting, but this week I really had to put school first.

Anyway, here the new chapter!

* * *

**Chapter8: Blood and darkness**

Neo grabbed the agent's arm and rolled him over and away, they both scrambled to their feet, without noticing they were coming dangerously near the stairs. The agent tried a violent kick to his face, which yet was blocked easily, then Neo ducked another swing to his head and swung back, but the agent caught his arm in mid-swing and flipped him on the ground. Neo let out a pained breath. Ok, maybe he had to do a little more practise in the anti-agent program, but he was doing well in his first times. When the agent reached down for him, Neo took the advantage and kicked up with both his legs into his stomach, making him fall backward. The force of the attack sent the agent flying over the banister of the stairs and he disappeared from Neo's view.

Neo jumped to his feet and rushed off to the stairs, just as he heard a loud, horrible crash, and looked down. On the ground below was now lying the lifeless body of a man in his twenties; his neck was visibly broken, bent in an unnatural angle, but the poor guy had surely got other lethal fractures. A dark pool of blood surrounded him.

Neo sighed heavily. He hadn't become used to kill people yet, even if it was extremely necessary. Forcing himself not to look again, he quickly headed for the exit of the building.

* * *

_**Wake up, Trinity... wake up...**_

Trinity slowly regained consciousness. She slowly opened her eyes, but her head was aching, which caused her view to spin. She remained still for a few minutes, blinking until her eyes could see distinctly, and she found herself on the ground, lying on her side. Then she tried to stand up, which was an error. Her body involuntarily started trembling and staggering, obliging her to lean heavily against the smooth and wet surface of a wall that she could barely see. She took deep and slow breaths to re-collect herself and her thoughts, bringing a shaking hand to her face. Her forehead felt sweaty to her fingers, her throat was dry, making her cough painfully almost five times.

_Why do I feel so weak?..._ _Where the hell I am? _she wondered as she turned her gaze around, her eyes gradually adjusting at the dim light, and memorizing the features of the new place. A dark narrow tunnel. Damp walls. Noise of water flowing in the middle of the tunnel, or dripping from the ceiling. An unpleasant yet still bearable smell. _The sewers. Fantastic._

Hypno. "Damn him..." she cursed under her breath.

A loud cracking noise, like of someone biting and masticating voraciously, made her jump. She turned to the direction it came from, the point where the tunnel ramified in other ones, and she caught the form of something lying on the ground, on which were bent a indistinct figures. _What the hell is that...?_

Trinity approached, hesitantly at first, one cautious step after another, then she had to keep herself from running with the urge to see who it was. Actually, she couldn't even run, her body felt so weak that she was forced to advance with a hand pressed on the wall, her legs unsteady beneath her. As she was just a few metres far, the curved figures revealed themselves as animals, that she could have mistaken for dogs because of their size. One of the animals looked up at her and growled, shoving robust teeth stained with blood, which even dripped from its muzzle. It had a massive head with broad rounded ears and its muzzle was totally black, that slowly melted with the rest of its coat, yellowish maculated in dark brown spots.

Surprised, expecting anything but what she could now recognize as four hyenas, Trinity froze there, her eyes then moving to the lying figure... what she saw provoked a choking sense of vomit in her stomach. The bleeding carcass of a person was being lacerated and massacred... one of the arms had been quite torn, his midsection ripped open, blood pouring copiously from the large wounds, and the head... well, the head was gone.

Trinity swallowed the lump she had got in her throat and, in a swift movement, she backed away from the wall, into the middle of the way, her boot covered feet dipping slightly into the water. Despite herself being used to see blood and corpses, rarely she had seen a body reduced in such a state. She started to withdraw to the opposite side of the tunnel, not taking her eyes off the animals, fearing an attack, but, strangely, they didn't seem to care about her, they just returned to their "meal".

Then, unexpectedly, she found herself falling down, her already distressed body hitting painfully the ground, something rolling to her feet. _Damn it, just now I had to trip on... whatever it is._

Trinity propped herself up on an arm, rising with a grimace. Anger boiling inside her, she blindly searched for the cause of her fall, till her fingers closed on something rough and soft. She felt warm liquid slide on her gloved hand and she brought it nearer to take a better look. A pair of vitreous blank eyes stared back at her, blood and scarred flesh around. She couldn't hold back an echoing scream of horror, her hand throwing the ripped head away, while she quickly withdraw until she stumbled back against the wall, leaning heavily on it, her breath coming out thin and hoarse. Wall? It was too soft to be a wall... it moved... a cold hand touched her cheek... oh, no...

"Glad to see you're awake, baby."

* * *

"Sir! The program took Trinity away!" Link shouted. His fingers were punching desperately on the keyboard, but there was no sign of the program's or Trinity's code on the screens.

"Get a track on him." Morpheus said, watching the slipping green code from over the operator's shoulder.

"I can't! I don't see where... Shit, Neo's calling!"

"Don't tell him anything until he's back on the Neb, otherwise he won't get out."

Link glanced at him.

"With all my respect, Sir, but I fear he will got angry if-"

The captain interrupted him. " I know, just do it, Link. When we are reunited, we'll decide what to do. Even Neo is impotent, if we don't know where the program got Trinity."

The operator nodded and answered Neo's call, while Morpheus moved to unplug him.

* * *

As soon as he rushed out of the Oracle's building, Neo picked up his cell phone and dialled Link. No answer. Another minute passed, and still nothing. _Answer, come on, answer! Why the hell is he taking so long?_ He was worried, and he didn't know why... Trinity...

"Operator."

_At last. _

"Link, where's Trinity?"

"Ah... she's already out, don't worry. The exit is on the main street, a phone both near a pub."

The operator hung up. Neo was thoughtful.

_Link's voice sounded so hesitant... and he closed the communication so quickly... as if he was afraid to talk more... but maybe I'm just being paranoid..._ He mused as he reached the ringing phone booth. He had picked up the receiver, when it hit him. _Wait a moment... if Trinity got out of the Matrix, then the receiver should still be hanging by its cord... of course someone could have used the phone, but it's late, I haven't seen a soul since we have entered and I still don't see anyone around here... so my presentiment was right... Link lied to me._

He firmly replaced the phone. That surely got Link's attention, because some instants later Neo's cell phone started ringing. He answered it.

"Neo, what are you waiting for? Get out!"

"Tell me where Trinity is!"

Link began to sweat. "I've already told you that-"

"You're lying!" Neo yelled, anger raising his usually quiet voice.

"Neo, please, calm down!"

"I'm not calming down, damn it! I'll repeat the question again, _where is she?_"

"Trinity... she..." Link stammered.

"She _what_?"

"She's gone! Disappeared! I can't find her anywhere!" the operator finally gave up.

Neo's heartbeat started to race faster, the hand gripping the phone shivering, fear choking his voice.

"How...?! Who..." he could just let out.

"I don't know! She was facing an agent..."

_Facing an agent?!_ Neo' s mind screamed, terror altering the lineaments of his face. He trusted her and knew that she was able to, but for how much time? They always escaped from the agents, so she rarely fought them for more than some minutes. Actually, even if Trinity had been the strongest person of the whole world, he still would have feared for her. He couldn't help it, and he also had the impression she felt the same.

"... when someone else, the program I suppose, appeared and took her away, but I can't find their codes!" Link's voice brought him back to reality.

Neo's fear changed back into anger. _Someone else... Hypno... that bastard!... Trinity..._

"I'm going to search for her." Neo's tone was icy cold and harsh from the growing rage.

"Neo, wait! It would be better if you get out of there and-"

"No fucking way I'm coming out without her!" he shouted. _And without killing that son of a bitch._ He added mentally, clenching his hand into fists.

Neo hung up abruptly and put the phone back into his pocket, ignoring its sound when it started ringing again, and he suddenly took flight, not stopping until he was hovering over the roofs of some skyscrapers, his face stony, his eyes scanning every code in view.

_I'm going to find you, wherever you are..._

* * *

"You know, another thing I learned about you... you're so cute when you're asleep." He said, his words cutting the silence and the half-darkness in a whisper, Trinity could almost see his irritating smirk, his chilling breathing above her. She turned to face him and tried to get away from him, but her limpness failed her. She took a step back, eyeing him furiously.

"What have you done to me?!" She yelled, fighting to stay on her feet. He made a fake innocent expression, teasing her.

"Me? Nothing. If you mean the _me-touching-you-while-you-are-sleeping_ thing, then I'm really innocent. Of course, it was a delicious temptation, I have to admit. Too bad I had to make sure the code barrier worked, otherwise maybe..." His predatory smirk grew wider, he was pleased to see her face get red from the anger. She was so gorgeous, especially when she was angry.

"I've just caught you, knocked you out, and given you a sedative to keep you weak for a little while." He continued, explaining it as if it was the most natural thing of the world. Trinity wished she could quarter and tear him in million pieces, literally.

"You... stay away from me... I don't want to have anything else to do with you!" she hissed trough clenched teeth, staring at him, blue eyes flashing.

"What makes you think you're so different from me?" His tone, this time, sounded serious. "You're amazing..."

Trinity rolled her eyes and just continued to stare at him, even if she was confused about his previous question. "Do you say that to all the girls?" she asked sarcastically.

The hint of an ironic smile played briefly on his lips. "No... you're different... affinity."

She frowned. _Affinity? What does that mean?_

"For a long time I have craved for you... for a creature like you... whose darkness could equal mine."

_Darkness...?_

She was taken aback as he suddenly stepped forward, his fingers grabbing her chin. His hand caressing her face, his eyes admiring her. She shivered under his touch.

**_Don't fight me... you know I can feel your hunger..._**

He put his hand behind her neck, leaning down, to kiss her. Trinity, as if she was in a daze, didn't make anything to stop him, that until she felt his lips brush hers. Her eyes widened, she pushed him away, gasping. He was too damn close for her taste.

"Stay... away... from... me! I'm not like you!"

He laughed. A pitiless laugh.

"Oh, yes you're. You can be. Do you want me to show you?"

She didn't have the time to react. He caught her face in his hands, each of them pressing a finger on her temples, a little hard. Her eyes closed shut as she felt a burning sensation inside her head, she tried to jerk away, but his hold was too firm. Then a lot of images and shots exploded in her mind, lights, noises, people... she felt herself falling down, down... until everything returned black.

When she opened her eyes again, she wasn't in the sewers anymore. She was standing in the middle of an empty street, and it was night, a dark night without stars. But something was wrong, she couldn't say if it was the place or just her view, her eyes saw as if they were looking at an old black and white photograph. She was still trying to understand what had happened when she heard fast steps behind her, someone running. She turned. A young dark haired girl in black leather had just dashed from behind a corner, a gun in her hand, an anxious expression written on her face. _Oh, God... that is... me?!_ Trinity watched her other herself, shocked.

_**All those years fighting us... you think you know ... what you are ...**_

* * *

**A.N. **Kinda graphic chapter... sorry I couldn't think of a better title... please, review! 


	9. Attraction?

Oh, my lovelies companions, thanks for your reviews!!!

Answers:

**Black Garnet: **I'm glad you liked Hypno. Don't worry, just a few chapters and you'll know how he looks like.

**Solia:** You're aren't quite wrong about Hypno, he really is attracted by Trinity in some kind of way, but this "relation" will become clearer in the next chapters.

* * *

**Chapter9: Attraction? **

The teenage girl soon reached Trinity, running trough her body as if the woman were a ghost, and continued to shoot worried looks behind her.

**_Do you remember who you were? A little cute slip of a girl caught in an _**

**_unfitting life... _**

His voice. It was deep, beautiful, but irritating. She didn't want to listen, but she was forced to. Oh, how she hated that voice... how she hated him.

_**You hate me? Really?**_

He laughed, amused. Fantastic. She was like an open book for him, just to be read.

The sound of sudden gunshots distracted her. Wordless, Trinity turned again and started to chase after her younger herself, when another person unfortunately appeared in the tableaux. It was just a guy in a midnight walk, one of the billions unplugged people who ignored the truth, a quiet poor guy who in that moment didn't realize the near danger, just because of the fact he didn't know he himself was that danger.

As his eyes locked with the girl's ones, he froze. His body started to spasm, bright code spreading trough his body like a swarm of static, his features deforming and transforming. The young Trinity froze on her spot, her face twitching with fear, then, hesitantly, she raised her gun toward him. As the guy had almost completely morphed into an agent, she shot. One, two three... she couldn't count. He fell heavily to the ground with a choked scream of pain, blood pouring from several holes on his midsection.

At that point, Trinity would have turned away without giving another look and started running to the exit, to the half-safety of the real world. But the young Trinity no... she slowly approached the corpse and kneeled at his side, then her shivering hand reached for the wounds, until it dipped slightly into a dense bloodstain. Blood on her hands...

_Stop it..._

Trinity regained the full memory of that painful event. It had been one of her first run in the Matrix, when she wasn't used yet to do what she had to. Everyone had told her it would have been like that... hell, she had known it even before. And still, she couldn't help thinking about the people she had killed... _murdered_.

It wasn't fair. People just wanted to live in a world they believed real, a world that meant something to them, live for their families. They were innocent. They weren't enemy, but at the same time they were.

"We are in the middle of a war. And, because of it, even innocent people die." Morpheus had told her, after she had questioned him about how she felt.

As soon as she had got out of the Matrix, she had scrambled out from her chair and she had run to her cabin, totally ignoring her crew-mates, who had care not to disturb her.

She had curled on her bed, wrapping tightly around her trembling body, images of death torturing and taunting her mind, ripping her heart. Trinity had stared at her hands and examined them, turning them over and over again, her eyes looking for something she wouldn't find. There was no blood on her hands... oh no, there was... then she could see it, in her soul... and she would never be able to cancel it. Never.

As she had felt something hot and wet fall on her hands she had realized she was crying, sobs were racking her body. She didn't know how long she cried that night.

_I did it because it was necessary... I'm not a cold-blooded assassin... _

**_Really? Then why you touched the blood? You wanted to feel it on your hands... and you did..._**

_No... it was just..._

**_Your instinct has hardened trough so many years... now you're cold, heartless, terrifying... you like the taste of blood... just like me..._**

_Stop! Stop it! I don't want to hear you!_

Silence. Trinity didn't hear his voice anymore, nor his breathing. There was just that horrible sensation of dark and cold... and blood.

* * *

Neo was extremely pissed. Not only that bastard had taken Trinity, but it seemed they had disappeared from the face of the world. Well, he had scanned all the codes in the city without finding them. 

_Damn it, were the hell is he?! Maybe in Alaska?_ He thought sarcastically, due to anger within him. He forced himself to calm down, since he was now standing on the sidewalk of a crowded street, and people were glancing at him curiously because of his grim expression. Yet, fuck them.

_Ok, stop a moment... you just aren't thinking calmly and rationally... from when I beat that agent up to when Hypno got her there are just a few minutes... so, before I came, the program had to go somewhere safe, that he knew well, where he had already been..._

Something slipped quickly between his legs, getting his attention. A little mouse, that kept on running trough the people until it reached a grating on the ground. Neo's eyes fixed on the manhole cover. _The sewers... oh God, how could I be so blind?!_ _Maybe he's somewhere underground and I'm walking on it! Probably there was an entrance to the sewers near the Oracle's building..._

Filled with new hope, Neo took flight again, actually forgetting he was in the middle of groups of people who pointed at him with shocked yells. He didn't realize anything, too concerned about Trinity to care.

* * *

Trinity's eyes snapped open, relief filling her heart as she finally woke up from the old, almost lost memory she had been forced to remember. Her gulping breaths and her too fats heartbeats were the only noise she could heard in that moment, all due to the state she was in. HYpno still was in front of her, still too close. As her senses slowly recovered and connected back to reality, she realized she was now pressed against the wall, the program blocking her way. What she didn't realize, or at least she realized later, it was that she had been staring at him, watching as the silver glittering irides of his eyes gradually returned to their usual pitch black, melting with the pupils. 

_Maybe he's different... after all, I have never seen his real appearance... the Oracle said he doesn't have any... outside. But inside... who knows?_

However, she really couldn't deny the colour change of his eyes was a unique and fascinating phenomenon to observe; the glossy, almost liquid-like black of the pupils slowly expanding and covering the shining metallic grey, the same way a stain of dark petroleum diffused itself on the pure and limpid surface of the sea, when a tanker wrecked.

The sea... she liked the sea. The different shades of blue and green, the white foam of the waves, the sound of its movement. Yet it was the Matrix. There were no seas from a very long time.

Once she had talked about this topic with Neo. He had been silent for a while, thinking.

_It doesn't matter if the sea doesn't exist anymore... one day it will revive, this is a promise..._ he had told her finally. _Until then I'll see it whenever I look into your eyes._

She had smiled and kissed him softly, even to mask the slight blush on her cheek and how she was pleasantly surprised at his words. Neo usually was a person of few words, but the times he spoke he always said things that reassured and comforted people, and she liked this part of his character.

She was snapped away from her thoughts as she heard again the disturbing noise of the hyenas eating. As if he had figured out her thoughts, Hypno turned to the four animals, that weren't too far.

"My dear pets, could you please move your party to that tunnel on the left? Our guest here is a little uncomfortable because of your meal."

_Just a little?_ Trinity said to herself bitterly, as the hyenas looked up at him, then took hold of the mutilated body by the legs with their fangs and dragged it to the place he had mentioned, till they where out view. He shifted his attention back to her.

"Hyenas generally aren't so ferocious in killing and eating, you know. Actually, no animal is. But I have influenced them more than I expected..." He explained, smiling proudly. "I really like them... they are ugly, frightening, powerful... strangely attractive Like you. With the exceptions you're beautiful... and exciting."

Trinity just glared at him, but a hint of fear was playing within her. _Where will this lead?_ She wondered anxiously.

"I'm pretty cool too..." he continued. "... you know... from an evil thing perspective."

That smirk again. God, how she wanted to wipe that hateful smirk off his face. If only she weren't so weak...

He suddenly snapped his fingers in front of her face, making her wince in surprise. Which made him laugh.

"Hey, I think you're too tense... relax."

_Me? Relax in your company?_ she thought sarcastically, sending him another murderous glare. He sighed jokingly.

"Ok, don't worry, I'm going to lighten your mood shoving you this. See..."

_What the hell is he going to do now?_

Without warning, Hynpo took her right hand and, in one strap, he ripped the glove, much to her surprise and anger.

"Hey!"

He smiled at her and kissed the back of her hand, resting his damp lips on her candid skin for a few second, his nose inhaling.

"Uhm, I like your scent... it tastes leather... metal... blood." He said as he pulled away.

She glanced at him. "That was what would lighten my mood?"

He didn't answer. She was about to say something else, but what he did after made her eyes widen in shock and forget the rest. The black leather glove in his hands suddenly began to shine with green stripes, till it became a whole piece of glittering code. His fingers started to move elegantly on its surface, changing the order of the code to his will and making it fly in spirals around the object. Then, in a few seconds, the code dissolved and another thing appeared in the place of the glove. Something shining in the dark.

He brought it just in front of her flabbergasted blue eyes, which reflected on the thin blade of a knife. She swallowed. He grinned with a smug look on his face.

"I want to taste you..."

Before she had the chance to realize anything, he made a swift movement with his hand, and Trinity felt a sudden slight pain at her throat, then something liquid on her skin. Hypno lifted the knife, whose blade was now stained with her blood, and licked it, closing his eyes dramatically in "tasting". As he opened his eyes again, he noticed her shoot him a disgusted look. He grinned again, licking his lips.

"That's it..."

He leaned forward and brushed the small wound on her throat with his mouth, causing her to shudder, then he lifted his face and caught her lips in a fierce kiss. Trinity struggled against him, but it did no good, not when she could barely walk, so she just stood motionless, passively.

Well, she had to admit he was a good kisser, but she felt like as if she was beginning to lose her mind, and that wasn't a favourable sign.

He pressed her more against him, deepening the kiss, and that sent a jolt trough her body. Slowly, she started to kiss him back, which revealed an error, because she couldn't handle him. Trinity tried to withdraw, yet he had her in his iron grip. She was at his mercy.

_Stop! Stop now! _

**_Find it... your true nature... show it... _**

* * *

Chappie done at last! Sorry if it's a bit disturbing... please, review! 

**Merry Christmas!!!**


	10. Not even if you kill me

Thanks for all your support! I really need it!

* * *

**Chapter10: Not even if you kill me**

Neo slowed down as he arrived in view of the Oracle's building, then he moved a little higher and remained hanging mid-air. He blinked once, his eyes opening to the confusion of the Matrix green code, and scanned carefully the surrounding underground area.

After a few minutes, he let out a hiss of victory, lifting his hand clenched in a fist in the process. Now he was sure they were there... and that fucking program had the hours - no, _minutes_ - numbered.

He let the gravity overwhelm him and he descended falling at vertiginous speed, landing heavily on the ground of the main street, just in front of the phone booth that should have led him and Trinity to the awaiting Neb.

His cell phone had finished ringing from a while, Morpheus hadn't shoved up anywhere, probably because he knew that Neo wouldn't listen to him. And the captain, despite himself being a respected fighter with many resources, couldn't reach Neo, who had been flying from one place to another without a precise destination.

Neo quickly wandered and glanced around, until his eyes spotted a narrow dark alleyway, that was difficult to notice because at the moment it was half covered by a large blue van. He followed it and, after a bend on the left, he found himself in front of a rusty metal door. Without even trying to open it as a normal person would, he just kicked it and slammed it off of its engines. The door fell to the ground with a loud bang, and he stepped in.

_Here I am at last... beware, Hypno._

* * *

Trinity struggled furiously than before against Hypno, realizing in the process that her body was now a little stronger, she was starting to feel better, which meant the effect of the sedative he had given her was eventually fading. Boldly, she slipped a knee between his legs, with the intention of kicking him as hard as she could him to then push him away, when, to her surprise - and relief - he himself pulled back.

_Yet not because he's breathless..._ she noticed. While she was gratefully regaining her lost breath, he seemed perfectly fine. He still was gripping her arms and keeping her pressed against the wall, but he had turned his head and was standing firm and silent, his face pinched slightly with focus, as if he was listening to something. Somewhere in the distance, the hyenas were growling quite loudly.

His gaze returned to her. "Uhm... looks like your boyfriend has found us..." He smiled wickedly. "Never mind. I'll take care myself of him. But first, I have to make sure you don't disappear while I'm away... sorry to do this..."

Before she could stop him, he grabbed her face in one hand and squeezed his fingers hard on her temples, his eyes glowing grey for a few seconds. She closed her eyes shut, her head throbbing under his force, raising her hands to catch his wrists, in a vain attempt to fight him.

_Shit, right when I was so close to recover my usual strength..._ she just had the time to think before she blacked out.

Hypno held his grip until he felt her go limp and fall against the wall. For a while he just stood there, thinking while watching her slender figure lie motionless, her candid face in a pleasant contrast with her cerise lips, some locks of raven hair falling on her closed eyes.

It was the first time he had caused such a situation, since he had never taken in consideration the idea of being with someone. He had always been the so-called lonely wolf, who despised almost everyone and everything. Well, _almost_.

He still didn't really know why he was so attracted to her - well, apart from the fact she was gorgeous and she was full of pep, he loved beautiful and strong women - why he had done all this, why he was caring about it.

About having _her_. _It's not like me. Not really._

Noises coming from somewhere around interrupted his musing. He shook his head thoughtfully and walked away, disappearing into the tunnel.

* * *

Neo rushed down a narrow ramp of metal stairs and found himself in a large space, from which started several tunnels, all dark and damp. He didn't look at the code, since he couldn't see through the walls (or he can? Don't think so, but please, lighten me! By MK), yet he could feel Trinity's presence distinctly, and she would be his guide, his light in the tangled labyrinth of the sewers.

_Oh God... when it comes to Trinity... I lose all my cold blood..._

He started to run trough different passages, making use of her aura like a radar; if he felt it become stronger, then he continued to follow that way, otherwise he changed direction until he would feel her getting closer.

Soon he got into another dim-lighted space, less larger than the one at the entrance, yet still large. He was close now, he knew it. As he was about to re-start his search, he decided to drop his trench coat in front of the tunnel he had come from. It hadn't been a long run until there, yet it would have been easier for him and Trinity to return to the exit.

He took a passage on the left, running as fast as he could without going to crash into a wall, hearing his own heavy footsteps echo around him. Suddenly, after a bend, a shadow jumped in front of him, causing him to stop abruptly and take a couple of steps backward.

_Gotcha._ Neo thought as he checked the code, eyeing Hypno trough the half-darkness.

"Well, I have to admit you've got some skill..." the program said in a hiss. "... to be just a human."

Neo just glared at him. Then, in a matter of a second, Hypno found himself being slammed against the wall, held by the throat. He could feel the cold fury of the One through his steel grip.

"Where is _she_?" his voice was suffocated from the rage.

"If you want her... you have to earn her!"

The program hit him in the stomach and pushed him away, then shoved a knife in his hand. He rushed at him and attempted to stab him over and over again, but Neo dodged easily, despite the fastness of the blows. As he retreated backward to evade Hynpo's attacks, Neo noticed that there was a big hole on his right; obviously, the narrow and uncomfortable passage in which they were fighting ramified in two other direction, so he took the unexpected advantage and ran into the found tunnel, turning to face his enemy, who just in that moment rounded the corner.

Hypno approached again and tried another stab to his shoulder and, when the other bent his torso to avoid it, he kicked his leg, causing him to fall heavily on the ground, and aimed down at him. Lying on his side, Neo rolled away from his reach, just in time, as the knife hit the ground and ran into it.

Then he rolled back faster toward Hypno, aiming at his legs, and made him fall forward, while he quickly jumped up with agility. The program turned and raised on his knees, lifting a hand swiftly to punch him, but Neo caught the fist into his palm and squeezed hard, until it made a crunching sound, while the face of his enemy contorted in pain, even if no sound escape from his mouth.

Yet it didn't end there.

Still holding his fist, Neo twisted Hypno's arm painfully behind his back until the elbow broke, causing him to let out an irritated hiss of pain, and grabbed his throat, squeezing. He lifted him from the ground and slammed him against the wall, his natural strength multiplied from his anger.

Then, finally, Neo let the program's almost limp body go and, even before it hit the ground, he picked up the knife and stabbed him in the chest, running the blade inside till the hilt. Hypno's dark eyes widened in a instant and he uttered a choked sound, blood spitting copiously from his mouth and from the deep wound provoked.

Neo stared at him, as he heard hurried steps, a voice, _her_ voice.

"Neo!"

Then a sudden dazzling light, desperate cries, darkness... and no more.

* * *

A candid wave crashed on the sand, the tepid water slightly grazing a pair of feet. Trinity stepped back a little, walking barefoot across the sand, then she suddenly stopped and looked out over the ocean. She closed her eyes and raised her head, to just feel the warm sun on her face and listen to sound of the waves coming in. _Warmth... sounds..._

Then suddenly, as from out of nowhere, a pair of hands reached around her and clasped gently in front of her waist, yet she wasn't startled, since she knew perfectly who it was. Instead she covered them with hers, letting out a brief sigh, that reflected clearly her peaceful state.

She glanced back at Neo and leaned her head slightly against his shoulder, then, without turning, she reached up with her hand and brushed it on his cheek.

"How did you find me here?" Her voice was soft, dreamy.

His lips nuzzled her hair. "Even blind, I would see you."

He could hear her laugh, light and pleasant like a breeze. He loved her laugh, although he didn't hear it often.

"_... I love you..."_

Trinity lowered her hand to take his at her waist and closed her eyes again, embracing his arms tightly to her.

"Stay with me..." she murmured.

He rested his chin on her shoulder, his cheek grazing hers. "Forever. I'm never letting go..." He moved his lips closer to whisper into her ear. "... not even if you kill me."

At his ambiguous words, her contented expression changed into one of dismay. She turned abruptly, but Neo wasn't there anymore. She was completely alone.

"_Oh, no... Nooo!"_

* * *

**A.N.** I'm depressed, action isn't my strong point, and this chappie is too short. I was constantly interrupted by my sisters, so I couldn't write in peace. And school is going to start soon - growls in frustration - help!

However, doesn't the last scene remind you of someone? I love it!

Please, review!


	11. He's waiting for me

-blushing for all your compliments- I thank everyone of you for giving me reviews and encouragement!

Don't worry, I'm going to write the story till the end. For me school has already begun, probably that's the main cause of my bad mood.

* * *

**Chapter11: He's waiting for me **

_Neo!_

Trinity woke up with a gasp, her shaking fingers clutching tightly the rough blanket under her, her face covered in sweat. She breathed slowly to calm herself, then she bit her lip hard to avoid her mouth let out any sound, even if she didn't know why she was doing it. Images of the recent dream still burned in her mind, which caused her to feel as though she was going to throw up in any second. Not the first images, though. It had been a beautiful dream... well, until... she swallowed hard.

A deep relief instantly filled her when she realized that her fast pounding heartbeat wasn't the only one she could hear in the immediate vicinity. Slowly, she lifted her head from the place where it was resting, which appeared to be Neo's midriff, and glanced at him with sad yet hopeful eyes, bringing one hand to his left cheek to trace the line of his jaw, in a gentle and delicate touch. His expression would have seemed totally peaceful and relaxed, if it hadn't been for a few lines on his forehead and his arched eyebrows, all signs that revealed his actual state.

She clenched her hands in fists as her thoughts wandered on who had caused all that.

* * *

_Trinity was sharply awakened from the sea of unconsciousness by the echo of loud noises coming from somewhere around. She lifted herself up in a sitting position, looking confused at first, until it her. The sewers... Hypno... Neo... they're close... they're fighting! _

_As she swiftly jumped to her feet she realized with joy and satisfaction that the making-weak effect of the sedative was totally gone, her body had returned strong and nimble as it had always been. Well, now she would have made Hypno pay for everything he had done... even if she suspected, or rather knew, that Neo was already doing it in her place._

_She started to run down the tunnel, following the clear and distinct noise of beating, and she soon arrived to a point where the passage ramified in two directions; one went straight, the other bent on the right, and just from this last one were coming the noises. _

_Trinity stepped into the dim lighted space of the hole, cautiously but at the same time hurriedly, just in time to see Neo pick up something from the ground and run it into Hypno's lying body, that winced violently. She heard a choked whimper as dark red liquid poured on the ground, forming a large pool, yet she didn't care. It was over, Neo was there, and that was all that mattered. _

"_Neo!" she called, a rush of joy and relief running trough her body like a drug. _

_At the sudden cry, Neo turned abruptly and glanced at her as if he couldn't believe she was there before him, safe and sound, then an expression of relief and happiness painted on his face._

_Trinity started to run toward him, growing more and more impatient at every step she did. On the other hand, Neo was about to stand up, desiring nothing else but to hug her tightly into his arms and never let her go, when, unexpectedly, a blooded hand grabbed his throat, forcing him to turn. The One found himself staring with surprise at the dying Hypno, who smirked cruelly at him, as if to say "This isn't over". _

_The program's coal-black eyes began to shine silver, until they seemed gems lightened inside by invisible flames, while his hands moved to Neo's head to press at his temples. As burning pain started to spread from his head to the rest of his body, Neo struggled to try and pull away but, despite his efforts, he couldn't. He couldn't stir anymore. His body was like frozen._

_He let out a long and agonizing scream as the pain hit the bottom in every inch of his body, then he was engulfed from a very bright green light, there were spirals of code running all around him, imprisoning him, like a cage. And then **him.**_

_**In this last hours I've had the chance to know your woman. A very beautiful creature she is... quite lovely.**_

_Slimy bastard! Why the hell don't you leave her alone?! _

_**Because I want her...**_

_You don't even understand what you're saying... you're just a machine... _

**_That doesn't mean I don't know things about you humans... _**

_Stop it... _

_Neo closed his eyes shut and covered his ears with his hands, he didn't want to see the code anymore, he didn't want to hear Hypno's voice anymore. He just wanted everything to end._

**_Oh, it will end, don't worry... but my way._**

_Trinity stopped dead in her track, her face contorted in horror. Just a few second earlier she was running to go and hug Neo, and now the whole tunnel was glowing green, hiding him from her view. She rushed to the bunch of code, trying to go trough it, but she was thrown away as if there were an electric wall. Desperate, she called him loudly, and she felt her heart shatter into million pieces the moment she heard him scream in pain as he had never had._

_The light of the code was too bright, dazzling. Despite herself wanting to see where Neo was, Trinity was forced to close her eyes and cover her face with her arms as the light suddenly spread around like the explosion of a grenade, before it gradually dissolved, leaving behind the usual half-darkness hovering over the now only two persons alive. _

* * *

Trinity's cloud of thoughts was broken as she heard Link's voice calling Morpheus. He sounded so worried that she reluctantly managed to tear herself away from Neo, yet not before adjusting the warm blanket to better cover him, wrapping it tenderly around his shoulders, from where it had slipped. She planted a soft kiss on his forehead, that was creased with an emotion she couldn't quite describe - maybe pain, or anger, she really didn't know - , then she tiredly raised from the seat placed near Neo's chair and left to join the operator in front of the monitors. 

"What's wrong?" she asked in a harsh tone, while the captain appeared behind them.

Link was punching noisily on the keyboard buttons. "Hypno... his code appears and disappears, lightens, over and over again... I don't know why he's doing this..."

Trinity narrowed her eyes, staring at the code.

"He's waiting." She said.

"Waiting?" Link glanced at her questioningly. "Waiting for what?"

She was silent for a while, a troubled expression haunting her face.

"For me... he wants me to go in." She eventually hissed. Hypno was waiting for her. _Neo _was waiting for her.

* * *

"_Neo?" Trinity's voice called softly once her eyes had readjusted to the dim light of the place after the explosion of code. She quickly spotted his figure half bent on the ground, near Hypno's dead body. He was trembling and staggering, his hands gripping tightly his own shoulders, his breaths coming out fast, too fast. Worry filling her again, she ran to help him and she remained stunned as he threw a pretty hard blow at her with his left arm and pushed her away, taking a few steps back._

"_... Neo...?" she repeated hesitantly, surprised by his action, as she tried to approach him again._

_He hissed at her something that her ear didn't manage to catch as he backed away again, still without looking at her. She frowned. "What...?"_

"_Get away!" he yelled harshly, lifting a hand menacingly toward her, causing her to wince in shock. There was a long moment of tensed silence, only broken by Neo's rasping breathing. And then his voice again, yet this time it was low and almost scared. And it scared her._

"_Trin, please, do it..." he pleaded as he finally made eye contact with her. She couldn't hold back a faint gasp; his eyes, those beautiful eyes weren't brown anymore. They were dark, dark as a hole without end. "Go away from here before he-"_

_He was cut off as his body began to spasm uncontrollably, his now black eyes widening in the extreme, and he fell to his knees, gasping. Then his gasps slowly faded and left the place to odd unpleasant laughs. _

_He lifted his head and smirked at her. No, it couldn't be..._

"_I have to admit your beloved Neo is stronger than I thought. It took me quite a while to get total control of his mind." Neo's voice said, in a tone she had never heard from him. He wasn't Neo anymore. _

_Trinity opened briefly her mouth, then closed it again. She couldn't say anything. She was literally torn between shock, worry, and rage._

"_Well? What are you going to do now?" Hypno asked ironically, tilting his head to one side. His eyes and his smirk looking so wrong on Neo's face. _

_She didn't answer. Although she had regained her strength, she really didn't feel like fighting him. Physically and mentally. **Not yet**, at least. "Please, get out of there..." Neo's words echoed inside her mind. I will, Neo, I will... but I'll come back to save you. _

_Trinity turned sharply and started to run. Hypno grimaced and shrugged, as if he had expected that, then he chased after her. She reached the ramification and took the other passage, the one from which Neo had come, running faster and faster as she heard Hypno close behind her. The tunnel was long and without other ways, so she continued to follow it until she arrived to a rather big space, that seemed a cross. She glanced around as she stepped in, and her restless eyes were soon attracted by something lying on the ground, before the entrance of a tunnel. She went to pick it up and recognized it as Neo's trench coat, and in a pocket she found his cell phone. Obviously, he had left them there purposefully. Damn it, Neo... always putting my life before yours... _

_The noise of Hypno's footsteps approaching urged her to continue her escape. As she ran she dropped the coat and opened the cell phone, dialling Link, who was quick to answer. "Operator."_

"_Link, it's me."_

_A long a sigh of relief could be heard. Then Link's voice broke in. "Trinity! At last! What the hell happened? I can't find you, neither Neo, Morpheus has gone nuts, and-"_

_Shit, the code barrier. Of course Link and Morpheus can't see us. Damn you, Hypno... she cursed mentally. "Never mind, just stay ready when I get to the exit. I'll explain everything later." She interrupted him._

"_Which exit?" _

"_The phone booth we used to get in." **We... **_

"_Are you ok? Sure you don't want-"_

"_Link." _

"_Huh... alright. See you later." _

_Just a few seconds later she regretted not having asked help. Maybe Link could have found a way to help her, even if they couldn't see her. I feel like I've been running for hours. Great, I'm practically lost. she thought frustrated. She was about to pick up the cell phone and call the ship again, when, unexpectedly, a little figure appeared in front of her, and Trinity almost crashed into it. _

"_What...?"_

"_Trinity!" a shrill yet soft voice said as a pair of big emerald eyes looked up at her._

_The woman recognized the person instantly. "Jenna?" she said surprised. The little girl nodded. "What are you doing here?" she asked impatiently, confused. She didn't mean to sound annoyed, yet she heard Hypno approaching, they weren't safe there. _

"_I came to help you." She explained briefly. "Follow me." _

_Jenna didn't wait for an answer and she started to run down the underground alleyways of the sewers, with certainty, as if she knew perfectly where to go. Although she was still confused, Trinity chased after her, deciding she could trust the girl, and she breathed in relief as they soon made it to the exit. Climbing a ramp of stairs, Trinity noticed the door was nowhere to be seen... no doubt on who had got rid of it. _

_They rushed out of there and then out of the alley, stopping in the middle of the main street, where soon the phone started ringing. Trinity entered the phone booth and picked up the receiver but hesitated, turning to look at Jenna. The girl smiled at her and started to walk away quickly, toward the Oracle's building. "Go, Trinity, don't worry for me."_

_Even if not reassured, Trinity placed the receiver to her ear, mentally thanking the Oracle for her help, when, suddenly, there was a blur of black and a loud horrible bang. She watched helpless and in horror as Jenna was slammed into the opposite wall, her little fragile body falling then to the ground. Her shocked eyes met Hypno's once more, before her mind was sucked into the phone, reconnecting to her body in the real world. _

* * *

Trinity slowly exited the phone booth and let her eyes wander around briefly. As she noticed Jenna's body wasn't there anymore she wondered what had happened after she had left the Matrix. Poor Jenna... program or not, she was just child. Hypno would have paid even for that. 

She headed directly for the alley which took to the entrance of the sewers, walking with calm footsteps and shoving an expression full of determination. No other emotion shoved on her pale face.

It had took her quite a while to persuade Morpheus to let her go in, she had never seen him so worried, but she had insisted until he had given up. She was sure she would make it.

As soon as she arrived she glanced at the dark rectangular hole where the door had once been, and she wasn't startled as Neo suddenly came out of.

"I knew you would have come." He said as he gave her the most satisfied smile of his repertory, while a hateful smug look played on his face.

She just glared at him. "You didn't leave me any choice."

He gave her a fake apologetic smile. "Really? That's my prerogative."

Always so damn self-confident. _But this time will be different, more different._ she thought as her hands quickly reached for her guns, that hang from the belt tied around her waist. She raised them toward him and cocked them, her index fingers already positioned on the two triggers. "Well. This is _my _prerogative." She hissed coldly.

He barely flinched. _I'm not able to use Neo's abilities yet, but I will learn soon. And she won't kill me. She won't kill **him**._

She seemed to guess what he was thinking. "Are you sure?" the emotionless tone of her voice managed to affect him a bit. He scowled at her. "You won't."

"And why?" she asked, her face stony.

Hypno looked uneasy, almost confused. "Because... you love him."

She smirked. "Good point."

Then he realized what he had said. _Why the hell did I say that? I don't even know what is it... and I don't want to._ he thought angrily, glaring at her for the first time. She just shrugged and, before he could do anything, she pulled both triggers.

One of the bullets missed and ran itself into the brick-wall. The other didn't.

Hypno's eyes widened as the bullet hit him and he looked at her in disbelief. Theoretically, she wouldn't have done it. Never. Yes, he didn't know what love was, but he'd learned she was too fond of Neo to do something that would have taken her lover away forever. So why...?

Then he realized what really had happened. But it was too late. He fell limply to the ground.

Trinity slowly approached the body and glanced down at it, lowering her guns and sighing. "You were right, bastard." she said. "I wouldn't have."

* * *

**A.N. **I still haven't decided if make Hypno live or die... uhm... 

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please review!


	12. Mind within mind

Please please please please, forgive me for this annoying waiting! I have finished school, **AT LAST! **Thank God!

Since some reviewers found the last chapter a bit difficult to understand, plus I took so long to update, I've written a little summary here:

Neo fought against Hypno, but the program managed to take control of his mind, so now Neo is possessed by Hypno. Trinity enters the Matrix again to save Neo. In which way? Well, just read this new chapter!

* * *

**Chapter12: Mind within mind**

"You were right... I wouldn't have." Trinity whispered again, subconsciously replacing her guns, and for some minutes she just stared at the fallen body. As she crouched next to Hypno/Neo her hand reached for something driven into his torso, and grabbed it, pulling it away. For a few seconds she held the thing, which revealed to be a long and thick needle, over him, over his face, as though he could see it.

"I have just given you a narcotic to keep you unconscious for the time I need." She hissed coldly, as if Hypno could hear her. "You know, I have recently learned from a certain person." She tossed the needle away.

One of her guns had been loaded with real bullets, the other instead contained narcotizing needles that had immediate effect. She had purposefully missed the first shot, of course, and let the fake bullet hit him, without him noticing her trick.

Her cell phone suddenly rang, once. It was the signal Link was ready. Trinity took a deep breath and hesitated for a moment, taken by a shade of doubt and fear. Then she shook it away. There wasn't time for any indecision.

The woman sat on the ground, next to Neo, and picked up again her narcotizing gun, pointing it at her arm. Just one shot and a, second later, her vision was already blurring. An instant before she blacked out she grabbed Neo's hand, squeezing it tightly.

* * *

"Here we are. Do it, Link." Morpheus said, as he watched Neo and Trinity lying motionless on the ground next to each other. 

The operator nodded and began to type quickly. Due to the fact they both were unconscious, he was able settle a connection between their neural systems , so that Trinity could enter Neo's mind and find Hypno. And, possibly, destroy him.

"All right, it's done. We can't do anything else, by now everything is in her hands."

* * *

Trinity winced sharply as she felt something wet and cold fall on her right cheek and slip along it till her jaw. All around her she could hear the familiar noise of water dripping over and over again from above, and for an instant she feared that it had been all a dream, that Neo hadn't come to fight Hypno and that she was still trapped in the sewers. Until she eventually opened her eyes. 

To her sheer confusion, a rippled white ceiling furrowed by light blue shades greeted her. She raised her back to sit up on the ground, one hand brushing her cheek to wipe away the drop fallen on it, then her confusion turned into astonishment as her eyes gazed around and her mind gradually registered any single characteristic of the unknown and dazing place. A quite out of standard place, considering she had been in an alleyway just a few minutes ago.

After suppressing a wave of dizziness that had briefly overtaken her, Trinity got up and started to walk cautiously around. It was an enormous cave, large and ramified in various formations and galleries and smaller caves, rather lightened. Long and sharp stalactites stuck out from above, so pointed that looked like they were going to fall down any second, just as the contorted stalagmites seemed to grow taller and taller from the ground. The peaks of some stalactites were just a few inches away from the ground, and sometimes melted with those of the stalagmites, creating weird sort of natural arches. But the oddest thing was that anything there was covered in a thin yet hard layer of whitish ice, which glowed reflecting the dim light. Everything around her glistened, even the ground, which was disseminated of puddles and frozen lakes. A cool wind was blowing, now and then carrying around light snowflakes.

Suddenly, while she was glancing up and down the brownish stony walls, grazing with hesitant fingers the ice cover, a shadow flew behind her, unseen by her. The woman turned abruptly to look, doubts and suspicions gradually creeping into her mind, like a plant that spread its numerous roots underground, but she saw no one. _That doesn't mean there isn't anyone._

The moment she turned back, in fact, someone hissed in her face, startling her, and they took that opportunity to punch her so hard she flied across the air, landing hardly against a wall and falling to the ground, pieces of ice breaking off and hitting her. She instantly jumped back to her feet and shook slightly her now throbbing head, feeling a bruise forming on her left cheekbone. She darted her eyes around, positioning in her fighting stance.

A bloodcurdling sound, similar to a violent strap, echoed through the whole cave, followed by an amused laugh. _Oh God, that laugh... _

He was there. She had found him. Or, precisely, he had shoved himself to "greet" her. He stepped out of the shadows, in front of her. An expression of pure surprise tinged on Trinity's face as she observed her enemy. _... So... **this** is his real appearance?_

And she had a good reason to be bewildered, since Hypno looked like he had come out from a vampire movie, or something like that: he was tall, about Neo's height, deadly pale skinned, with matted and wavy dark hair that grazed his shoulders, and flowed slightly at every movement he did. He was wearing a black leather jacket that arrived at his feet, and under it she could see he was wearing leather T-shirt and pants as well. The vampire-like paleness of his face determined a strong contrast with the dark red of his lips, but gave prominence to his glass-grey eyes, which were also encircled with a thick and marked dark brown-purplish line, like the rings around the eyes of someone who hadn't taken enough sleep. Besides, he walked with stealthy and at the same time haughty moves, like a wild feline establishing his own territory.

One of her eyebrow raised in question. "Fan of _The Crow_?" she asked, crossing her arms on her chest. Since she was there, she could allow herself a little taunt. Even if, mostly, she was taking time to study her adversary.

He laughed. "Yeah, I created my aspect myself. I won't hide the fact that I like the The Crow saga. But mostly the first movie, it's not the same thing without Brandon Lee. He was great."

"You really sound like an excited fan. Unusual words for someone who spends his endless time despising and torturing humans."

He grinned widely. "What I can say, to understand humans you have to identify yourself with them."

Trinity unconsciously cocked her head to one side, still eyeing the weird - _crazy... -_program. He really was handsome, though, and if it hadn't been for his killer maniac-like smile, that could scare the shit out of anyone, he would have had bunches of girls squealing at him.

She shook herself from her astonishment as his grin suddenly turned into a wider smirk. "How nice and smart of you to play my same trick. I have to admit I really didn't expect such a payback." His deep voice hissed loudly.

The woman shrugged. "Like _someone_ said, to catch your enemy off guard you have to identify yourself with him."

His smirk widened even more, if that was possible. "Good point." He paused briefly. "Look at the place... It's me who made it to appear like this, you know? Generally, human minds burn in the fire, they're exactly like the inside of a volcano during an eruption, disseminated of red-hot stones and ash and lakes of boiling lava. The more the fire and the air are intense, and the explosions are violent, the more the mind of a person is vivid and smart, full of thoughts and bursting with initiative. But when I take total control of someone, their brain stops working, their mind literally freezes and its aspect radically changes... like this. And is substituted with _my_ mind." He explained, lifting a hand and gesturing at her to take a second glance around. She didn't take his suggest. He carried on, but changed the subject as he noticed her now serious expression. "I can feel the power you have. And you know something else, sweetness?" He reduced his voice to a whisper. "I _love_ it."

He started moving closer to her, walking around with sleazy and creepy-seductive steps and moves. Trinity didn't reply anymore, and she didn't react either. She just stood there with a blank stare, motionless, as though she were in some sort of trance. She didn't react even when he came to stand right behind her and put his hands on her shoulders, moving them down her figure.

"Look at you. So full of... how do humans call it? _Emotion_?"

Slowly moving to her side, he reached up with his hand and brushed some locks of dark hair back from her face, tucking them behind an ear, then nuzzled the hollow between neck and shoulder. She still just stood there, without making any move, it was getting unnerving for him. He moved around in front of her and stayed right there in her face, as if he was about to kiss her, lifting her chin up with two nimble pale fingers.

"You came here because you want something back..." he said, now his mouth was barely an inch away from Trinity's, he started to caress her left cheek. "... but have you thought about how to get ?"

Trinity, on the other hand, didn't lose time in replying, not even in thinking. All in a sudden, too fast to be avoided, she punched him in the face, hard, knocking him down and pinning him to the ground, trying to hold his arms still. He gave her that damn hateful smile only he could do and roughly rolled her onto her back so he was on top, grinning down at her in satisfaction, looking like the cat that had just swallowed the canary. She responded with a grim glare and threw him off of her with some difficulty, quickly getting up to face him again. Shit, he was stronger and faster than she had thought, especially in that place, she definitely realized it was gonna be a hard fight.

He approached her menacingly, as she backed away to try and regain some space, yet he quickly lunged forward and grabbed her shoulders painfully, pushing her against the wall. Trinity could feel the cold ice through the thin fabric of her leather suit.

"Come on, my little pet. I like it when you're getting scared..."

She struggled desperately under the pressure of his body.

"The more I scare you..." he sniffed her, like an animal does with his prey, breathing in her hair. "... the better you smell. I like it."

With an effort she managed to free herself from his grasp, but he kept on rushing at her over and over again, attacking her unremittingly, with a fastness and a precision she had never seen in anyone but the agents and Neo. Hypno was punching and kicking her with such force that her blocks were almost ineffective. She eventually managed to do several good offensive moves, but he was able to avoid or stop more than half of them, which soon started to annoy her. Trinity aimed a kick at his head, he ducked and tried to push her off balance, but she leaned forward and went into a handstand, rapidly balancing on her hands, with her back to Hypno. At this point she locked her feet tightly around his neck and lifted him off the ground, flipping him over and then slamming him down heavily. She then turned and jumped astride his body, pulling a dagger out from one of her boots and stabbing him right through the heart.

* * *

"Trinity has been in for almost an hour now... no trace of her and no news of Neo... this is driving me crazy... I can't take it... " Link kept on repeating as he paced around the Core continuously, unnerved and concerned. 

"Link, please, calm down. I'm sure she'll make it." Morpheus tried to reassure him, but the tone of his voice couldn't hide his own worry and doubt. "She'll make it..."

They flinched in alarm as Trinity's body started to jerk both in the Matrix and the real world. _I hope..._

* * *

Trinity got up and stepped backward, glancing at the bleeding corpse. Or what would have been a corpse, if suddenly Hypno, to her horror, hadn't jumped to his feet, startling her and causing her to back away more. He stood in front of her again, smirking mockingly, as if he hadn't been wounded at all, save for the darker spot staining his black T-shirt. He then looked at the dagger and took it out of his chest, while the woman's eyes grew wide as she stared in utter shock. She remembered the Oracle's words - _No weapon can destroy him... - _and she sighed in frustration. 

Hypno started to attack her with her own weapon, like he had done before against Neo, but now, there, he was much more faster. The woman received a long cut on the midsection, then another, some minor cuts on her arms, she couldn't avoid them, so she jump-flipped backward to regain ground and then rushed at him.

She managed to kick the dagger away from his hand, but he caught her leg again and, before she could figure out his intentions, he bent her right foot to a side. He let her go and she fell on the ground, shutting her eyes tightly as she unsuccessfully tried to hold back a moan of pain, one of her hand reaching to hold her twisted ankle. Just a few seconds later Trinity managed to stand up, but she had to lean her weight fully on her left leg, so she was barely able to keep her balance.

She lost it soon as a hard kick hit the right side of her face, and a harder punch reached her stomach, sending her stumbling against a wall, almost breaking the ice again. She gratefully welcomed the support of the cold wall, her ankle was throbbing painfully and the bleeding cuts provoked a stinging sensation.

Through her now blurred sight she could still see Hypno staring at her with an indecipherable expression, without moving to attack her. She breathed hard, then she momentarily closed her tired eyes.

* * *

Neo's eyes snapped open, meeting a dark blue ceiling pricked with many small glowing points. The sky. He sat up in a jolt, looking around with confusion plastered on his face. He was in the Matrix, that was sure. In that alleyway. _What the hell happened? I was fighting Hypno in the sewers and then... I can't remember..._

Dazed, he moved to stand up when his right arm brushed against something. Or, precisely, someone. He turned to look. And gasped in horror. "T- Trinity!"

_Trinity... Oh my God... _Neo stared in disbelief at his lover, then he knelt beside her, his shaking hands touching her face and neck with delicacy, afraid to hurt her more than she already was: her face was too pale and was contorted in an intense expression of pain. She had a nasty bruise on her left cheek and a bleeding wound over her right eye, moreover her leather suit was cut in several places, mostly her arms and torso, which were also bleeding, as if someone had attacked her with a knife. She was alive, just unconscious, but in what conditions. Neo felt he couldn't breath anymore. His mind couldn't even form a sensible thought. _God... tell me I didn't... it can't be..._

The sudden sound of a ringing phone tore the air and partially snapped Neo from his shock. _Hold on, Trin..._ Gently, he gathered her into his arms and lifted her with him, only to find out her left arm was hanging in an unnatural angle, broken. And he even suspected her right ankle was twisted. _No... I can't take this... Trinity..._

He didn't know how he managed to bring her to the phone booth, since his whole body was shaking in a way that no physical pain could provoke. Holding her against him with one arm around her waist, he lifted the other to pick up the receiver and put it to her ear. _Oh God... tell me I'm not the one who did this to her..._ he thought desperately as he watched her virtual body being sucked into the phone and disappear from his arms. _I could never hurt her... never..._

* * *

**A.N.** I can't believe no one has ever created a NeoTrin community after all this time, so here I am, I've made a big archive of their stories, old and current fics. Hope you enjoy it. 

I've taken a particular care of this chapter, don't know if you've noticed. If you have the impression there is a part missing in the chappie, don't worry, it will be explained next time.

Drop a review, will you?


	13. Answers

I'm sorry for the waiting. I know I should have updated sooner, but lately I've been extremely lazy, even when it came to writing, so I often ended up reading instead!

This is the last chappie, I hope you like it.

R&R, please!

* * *

**Chapter13: Answers**

"Will she make it? Please, tell me she's gonna be alright..." Neo asked as he stared worriedly at Trinity's unconscious figure lying on the metal table in the Med. Bay.

Morpheus tried to reassure him. "Of course she'll be, we've tended all her wounds on time. Don't worry more than you should, Neo. Her cuts are not so deep, so they will leave no visible traces on the skin, and the same goes for the bruises. Her sprained ankle is going to be like new, as well as her broken arm, since the fracture seems to be less serious than we feared, but it will take time.

On the whole, I can say with certainty that her wounds are more painful than dangerous for her health. She will recover perfectly after several weeks of rest. And remind her, when she wakes up, that the word _rest_ means _staying in bed and not working_."

Neo sighed. "She won't like it though. She can't bear to lie in bed without doing anything when the others are pretty busy."

"I know, yet she has to." The captain said, adding a silent _make-her-stay-in-bed-in-any-way_ look.

"And I know you will help her feel better, physically and emotionally." Link intervened in the conversation. After noticing Neo's interrogative expression, he explained. "Well, a nice massage for little pains can lead to other more interesting things..."

"Link!" Both Neo and Morpheus exclaimed, the One blushing violently from head to feet at the operator's meaningful words. Despite their attempts to be quiet, they knew a few sounds always escaped from the small refuge that was their cabin when he and Trinity made love. Which probably reminded Morpheus and Link respectively of their beloved Niobe and Zee.

The operator's lips curved into a seraphic grin. "Sorry bud, I just couldn't help it."

"Let's move her to the bed. Gently."

"All right."

* * *

_Everything around her was so bright, almost blinding. Her body and mind felt very light, as though she was flying, hovering in emptiness. The pain and the blood were just distant and faint memories, a deep silence and a longed peace ruled anything. And yet, the thought of what had happened still lingered in her head, it wouldn't leave her alone. The tired shadow of her unconscious lay down hanging in the air, and she sighed restlessly. Someone familiar appeared beside her and, despite everything, their presence was comforting._

"_I've made it... but I don't feel well. I feel like I have betrayed Neo, somehow..." the words escaped her mouth before she could hold them back, expressing her doubt and fear, voicing the question that really mattered. A question which was torturing her like a burning thorn in her side._

_The old woman shook head in response. "You shouldn't be. You just did what you had to. There is nothing wrong in doing anything to save the one you love."_

_At the other's words, relief washed trough her body like a sedative. Someone else appeared, and she couldn't help but smile faintly at them. So the little child was fine now. _

_Then, all of a sudden, the whiteness surrounding her turned into pitch blackness..._

_Sound of voices..._

"_She stirred! I think she's waking!"_

"_Be more quiet, Link."_

"_Trinity..."_

Trinity's eyes half-opened, but her sight was blurred, she couldn't see clearly. The woman shook her head slightly and blinked, until her tired pupils managed to focus on three faces staring down at her with concern. Her gaze landed first on Link, who then started gushing about hyenas found in the severs - she made a face at the mention of the word "hyenas" -, then on Morpheus, who complimented for her victory and told her about her physical conditions, and finally on Neo, who was looking at her with a mixture of worry and happiness, too relieved to say anything.

"Hey" she said quietly, giving him a small smile and lifting slightly her right hand toward him.

He released the breath he didn't even know he was holding, then he smiled back, taking her hand and squeezing it. "Hey yourself"

They were so caught by each other that they didn't notice Morpheus and Link sneaking silently out of the room.

Neo sat gently on the edge of the infirmary bed, caressing Trinity's hand, yet he still couldn't bring himself to say a word.

"I really look like shit, do I?"

Neo felt a lump in his throat. How could she care about that when her life had been in danger? To him, nothing mattered more than her being safe and sound and being there with him. He leaned down and captured her lips in a long, hard, desperate kiss, which left both of them breathless. _Maybe not..._ she mused as the kiss ended, her fingers running through is short dark hair, feeling his hand touch her cheek. She looked straight into his eyes then, and immediately realized the reason why he was quieter than usual. He felt guilty for what had happened to her. She sighed. "Neo, stop it. It wasn't your fault."

"Wasn't it? If I had seen Hypno was still alive I could have-"

"No, you couldn't have." Trinity cut him off abruptly.

Neo glanced at her questioningly. "Then how did you defeat him?"

"I'll tell you soon. But first I want to ask you something. How did you find me, when Link couldn't even trace my RSI code?"

"Ah, yes." He grinned. "Thanks to a mouse." Off her look, he explained. "While I was looking for you I saw one disappear into a manhole cover, and the severs where the only place I hadn't searched. You know Hypno had settled a code barrier which didn't let us to see you, but when I scanned the underground area around the Oracle building I noticed that was the only part of the severs where no rats appeared, so I realized it was a cover."

"Joy, I owe my life to a rat!"

Neo pouted mockingly. "So you don't think I was going to find you anyway."

Trinity smiled and pulled him down for a quick kiss. Now it was time for her explanation. He probably wasn't going to like it.

* * *

**Flashback **

When she opened her eyes again she saw Hypno come toward her, walking with deliberately slow footsteps.

"Stay away from me!" she yelled trough clenched teeth, her dark pupils sparking with a mixture of anger and dread, emphasising the clear aquamarine colour of her irises.

He just kept on coming closer. "Are you afraid? It is not my intention to kill you. I just want to understand. I just want another sample."

Her eyes narrowed at the obvious meaning of his words. "No. What happened before... it's never going to happen again." She replied, shaking her head in denial.

"Then stop me, if you can."

In a flash he was standing right in front of her again, trapping her between him and the wall, demanding something he had already taken forcefully two times.

"Don't you understand?" he said, staring at her anxious expression. "You do not want to resist."

He started to lean in as he saw the woman close her eyes and relax against the wall, as though she was willing to give up at his request.

He knew he was playing a dangerous game, yet he couldn't help it. Just her close presence was causing him to feel weird and unknown sensations, sensations that were starting to blind him. He decided he couldn't bear them, because they seemed to soften him, to weaken him. And he hated being weak. He had never been weak, and he wouldn't start now.

And still, he was curious. He didn't like those feelings, but at the same time he wanted to understand what they meant, he wanted to know why humans acted the way they did, and why most of them tried to keep alive those emotions.

Just as his lips were about to touch hers, his eyes widened and he stumbled back with a loud hiss of pain, falling on his knee. Without him noticing, Trinity had shot a violent blow with her knee between his legs. Program or not, a kick in that place surely hurt. He was a man after all.

She walked forward limping slightly, while he started to recover from the unexpected attack. He glanced up at her as he finally stood back up, his face displaying an expression of confusion, and mostly anger, for the first time. "You're resisting."

"Look so." The woman said, shrugging.

He held out a hand toward her suggestively. "Come here, you do not want this. Come back to me."

She smirked coldly at him. Now it was her turn. Turn for her revenge. "You know, I really think our _relationship_..." she spat the word out with disgust. "... if I can call it so, has gone too far. On the other hand, I want to thank you for opening up my eyes a little."

He scowled. "What the hell is this?" he demanded, voice raising in irritation.

Trinity just shrugged again at his predictable change of mood. "My real nature. Want a taste?" she asked tauntingly.

Hypno glared and lunged at her. Forcefully trying to ignore the pain in her ankle, she managed to jump over his head and whirled, kicking him into the wall. He span around and grabbed her arm in a tight grip, punching her twice, one blow in the stomach, the other in the face, flinging her across the cave. She scrambled to her feet and turned to face him, but he was already rushing at her, so they both fell to the floor, rolling, eventually ending with him on top of her. His long pale fingers closed on her throat in a choke-hold and started squeezing hard, not the hardest he could but hard none-the-less. He was probably trying to weaken her more.

Trinity sent a punch under his chin, then grabbed his T-shirt and flipped him over, so she was the one on top now. She punched him a few times, until he caught her fist and pushed her off of him, tossing her in the space between the wall and one of the stalagmites. After a failed roundhouse kick, which left her surprised and Hypno still unharmed, she grasped the stalagmite near the top with both hands and jumped around it, sending him against the wall with a powerful flying-kick perfectly aimed at his head. Not wanting to give him any moment of truce, she lunged at him and delivered a kick to his neck, which he seemed to block easily, then she bent over at the waist to avoid two consecutive punches aimed at her face. Yet he kicked her in the chest and shot a violent blow at her ribs, finally causing her to double over in pain and fall to the ground face first. At this point, Hypno picked her up by the throat and tried to choke her again, but she startled him by spitting blood in his face and she managed to escape his clutches. As soon as she was free she ran away, trying to find a place where she could momentarily hide and take a moment to contemplate the situation. Hypno wiped away the blood she had spit in his eyes with the back of his hand, at the same time licking off the blood that trickled from his mouth – caused by the flying-kick he had received before – , then he chased after her.

Trinity's expression showed she was visibly upset, and she was not making a fast flight either, since she was limping because of her dislocated ankle. Spotting a cleft on her right she gritted her teeth and made a dash for it, slumping against the wall. The fight was obviously getting nowhere, considering Hypno was nearly completely unhurt while she was collecting bruises over bruises. It almost was as though she was fighting an agent; with the difference that agents just intended to kill, and not play the cat-and-mouse game with her.

_Hypno is the most diabolic being ever created. He can't be killed with any weapon, neither with violence, because he's actually fond of it. Fighting him isn't going to resolve anything. But what can I do then?_

Right then Hypno walked past the cleft she was hiding in, so she surprised him by coming from behind and bashing his head with a stalactite she ripped from the ceiling. Unfortunately, although he obviously didn't remain unaffected by the hard hit, she didn't even manage to knock him down. As they fought, he wrestled the cone-shaped stone from her hand when she swung it at him again, tossing it away, then they returned to martial arts. _Not weapons, nor violence... not weapon, nor violence... damn it!_ He punched the side of her face, right on her temple, causing a wave of burning pain to spread from her head to the rest of her body, then he grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her more than 10 metres across the cave. She landed rather painfully, and for a few seconds she lay there, unmoving, trying to regain her breath and recover at least a part of her strength.

When she eventually managed to stand shakily on her legs she realized with dismay that one of her feet didn't rest on the ground. The woman turned around and her eyes widened in fear when she noticed the large, but not too deep, chasm behind her, which had a half-moon shaped lake in the middle. She tried to get away from it, but a kick to her side made her lose her already precarious balance and she fell. Hypno watched as she went down tumbling on the ice covered rocks until she arrived at the bottom, then he himself followed jumping nimbly from one rock to another to reach her.

_Shit..._ Trinity's face contorted in a grimace when she stirred. Every inch of her body hurt like hell. _Double shit..._ she mentally cursed again as she realized her left arm was bent in a strange and painful way. The she heard light footsteps moving toward her. _Come on, Trinity, get up..._ She tiredly managed once more to stand and limped to a near stalagmite, leaning her weight fully on it.

"You really never give up, do you?" He said as he strode forward, observing her carefully. He liked what he saw. Although she was bruised and bleeding, and obviously exhausted, she still was beautiful and so determined to keep on fighting. The perfect image of how all warriors should be.

In her turn she observed him, reflecting. _Can't be killed... not with weapons, nor with violence... think, damn it, think... How on the earth I could- oh my God!_ Her mind screamed as realization suddenly struck her like a bolt from the blue. _No, it can't be **that**... and yet..._

Trinity stared at him, breathing hard. She couldn't help it. She started to laugh.

Hypno glanced at her with a mixture of confusion and irritation, annoyed by her sudden action. "What are you laughing at?"

Her laughs slowly reduced to a grin, then she started walking unsteadily toward him. "I'm laughing because I feel so stupid. The solution was right under my nose, and I didn't see it earlier... right in my heart, and I didn't sense it. I'll give you the answers to the question that more plagues your mind."

He unconsciously took a step backward. The his silver eyes widened, _What the hell is she doing!_ , when she unexpectedly leaned in and kissed him. He tried to pull back, yet he couldn't. On one hand he didn't want to stop, because it looked harmless, on the other he wanted to, because he couldn't control what was happening. Eventually he surrendered, then he closed his eyes as he heard her voice echoing in his head.

_You want to know what love is, Hypno?_ It was the first time she called him by name, and it had a weird effect on him. _Love is one of the most powerful and upsetting feelings. It's a desire which attracts and connects living beings, because they all have a reciprocal need of completion. _

_Love is strange... in our loved one we look for someone who is **like** us, and at the same time **unlike** us. If the other didn't resemble us, if we couldn't recognize in his or her thoughts and feelings the reflection of ours, there would be no love... but if the other resembled us too much, if he or she were just a mere duplicate of ourselves, then there would be no love as well. _

_It's as though once all individuals were formed by two different parts, and now these separated parts were trying to get together again, because they need each other... this goes even for me. In Neo I have found my other half, I have found the one that will always be at my side, no matter what... when I am with him, I know I can be who I am, and I can act however I want, because he accepts me and he understands me better than anyone else, even better than myself. _

_Without realizing, **you** are looking for someone who is completely like you, and that's why you will never find love. What I am giving to you it's just a little sample of the love and the passion I feel for Neo... _

_You're feeling it now. It's something you can't control, therefore it's also something you can't bear._

_And without realizing, Hypno, you're dying._

**End Flashback**

* * *

"So you see, Hypno was so evil he couldn't stand being loved. After that I don't remember anything else." Trinity finished.

She looked up at Neo, but he was looking away. She could see he was a little upset about what had happened, but he was trying not to show it. Her hand cupped his cheek, forcing him to meet her gaze. "Neo, that didn't mean anything. Remember what I said? I love you. Only you, no one else."

_Come one, idiot. She risked her life to save you. You love her, she loves you. Show her you understand._

He covered her hand with his own and he eventually smiled, relaxed. Then, all of a sudden, he gave a silent little laugh, but she still heard it. "What is it?"

"Huh, nothing. Just something Link said before you woke up."

She raised an eyebrow. "Which would be... what?"

He swallowed slightly. "You won't like it."

Trinity stared at him expectantly. Neo sighed, then blurted it out, waiting for the explosion. Which came after a second of deafening silence.

Her face flushed in anger and embarrassment. "He said WHAT! This is it, as soon as I get better I will SKIN HIM ALIVE!"

Neo smiled inwardly. _That's my Trin._

After drawing mentally a repertory of the most painful deaths for the operator Trinity finally seemed to calm down, probably because in the meantime her lover had slipped in the bed – the infirmary bed was much larger – and had spooned next to her, careful not to hurt her. She sighed contentedly as she felt Neo's arms wrap around her waist and his lips kiss her neck, she felt warm and safe. She was home. _Maybe I won't kill Link, after all..._ she thought before drifting off to sleep in the arms of her love.

**The End **

* * *

**A.N. **So, did you enjoy the story? If yes, I'm really happy you did, if not, never mind!

I thank everyone who followed the story so far and supported me.

THANK YOU!


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